The Amazing Winsors

Tired.

2012-01-27T17:05:00.000-05:00

Hey. Sorry for the lack of posts. Currently I am trying to get T to nap during the day and eat real food at dinner and she doesn't think she needs to and it is taking up all of my mental and physical energies.
I'm tired.
Here are some pictures to tide you over.

Apparently I'm the only adult in the house that thinks to take pictures. T is going to wonder if I was an absent mother.

And a video:

Videos

2012-01-18T09:59:00.000-05:00

I told my mother I would put up a video of T's first experience eating and while I was doing it, I decided to throw in a couple more videos just for kicks.

Enjoy, mom.

This is actually the 2nd video I took. The 1st one wouldn't upload and I can't figure out why. It's basically the same, only you miss me trying to keep her from grabbing the spoon before I can get it into her mouth for about 30 seconds. Very exciting stuff.

Playing Peek-A-Boo with Daddy. Please note the way she twists her feet in circles. She does this all day and I think it's very funny.

Opening her Christmas present.

6 Months

2012-01-13T13:39:00.002-05:00

Let's make this short and sweet. (ish)

Skills: You can sit up! And I have to help you sit back up after you've toppled over less and less each week.
You've decided being on your tummy is just fine and you refuse to roll over anymore.
Your socks are in a perpetual state of being half pulled off.

Food: We've tried. You seem to seriously hate it.

New Favorite Game: Peek-A-Boo. I may be overusing it, since you no longer laugh when we play this.

Seth would like you to know he is not being a terrible father, he was working from home this day and I put Tessa there myself.

People: Love them! For the most part - unknown males are starting to become the exception, as your Granddad (and everyone else in the building) unfortunately found out during church. But, Christmas Break was still awesome for you in this department. Not so good in the sleep schedule department.

Naps: Hahahahahahahahahaha. A ha. No. They no longer exist in your world.

It is mind-boggling to me that you are closer to being a 1-year old than a newborn. Mind-boggling!

Christmas Card

2012-01-05T15:08:00.000-05:00

So I had every intention of sending out Christmas cards this year (or should I say last year?). But seeing as it's January 5th and I still haven't bothered to get addresses together, I'm going to hazard a guess and say it ain't happening.
It's really too bad, because I love Christmas cards. Real ones, that you get in the mail. Nobody sends them anymore and it makes me sad.
Anyway, in an effort to not be too lame, I decided to at least post a Christmas card on my blog. Let's pretend like you are reading this 2 weeks ago.

The Amazing Winsor's 2011:
Seth: finished 2 more semesters of grad school, got almost all A's, worked part-time while going to school, worked full-time over the summer, worked with the young men at church, looked for a job, and helped Janette around the house.
Janette: had a baby, kept her alive.
T: learned how to hold her head up, roll over, blow raspberries, sit up and -for 2 beautiful weeks- sleep through the night.
Here's to more sleep (and more happiness) in the coming year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My Name

2011-12-29T10:20:00.000-05:00

I know I have a different name. It's not very common, and it gets mispronounced a lot, and it's not spelled the way everyone else expects it to be spelled (though if you ask me, the way I spell it is correct and everyone else is wrong).
So I am used to my name being butchered. But sometimes, I really just have to scratch my head at what people come up with.

Deljanette?
This is a new one.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

Just a few days late.
We are busy hanging out with family.

Stay tuned for more exciting posts later.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Isaac and Wayne!

2011-12-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

So we've been busy hanging out with you in person and having a fabulous time.
Which is why this blog post might not be so fabulous...
But rest assured that we love you and we hope you had (and have) a great birthday.
(Isaac on the 22nd and Wayne on the 24th).

This is an old picture. But it's the only one I have of the two of you together.
Happy Birthdays to our brother (in-law) and father (in-law)!

Life with a 5-month old.

2011-12-20T13:37:00.000-05:00

This morning:
I made 2 kinds of cookies and my kitchen is a disaster.
I let T suck on all my serving spoons so she would be happy while I made cookies and now I have to wash all of them.

T dumped my bowl of cereal all over the carpet.
I spilled Dr. Pepper all over the stove.
I let T play with a colored advertisement so I could eat lunch and this happened:

So now I have to say that her first food was ink.
T broke a mason jar and got glass everywhere.
And she refused to take her morning nap and instead cried all morning.

Is it bedtime yet?

Books: 2011

2011-12-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

I read 39 books this year.
I have a goodreads account, but I am not very good about using it.
So since I am always looking for new book recommendations, I thought I would do the same for others. So here is my year of books in review.
Fantastic:
1. The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo
2. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
3-9. The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
10. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
11. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
12. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
13-15. The Lord of the Rings series by J. R. R. Tolkien
16. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien
Great:
17. Emma by Jane Austen
18. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
19. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
20. The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer
21. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
22. The Firm by John Grisham
23. The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
24. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
25. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
26. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
Good:
27. Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
28. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
29. The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
30. You Belong to Me by Mary Higgins Clark
31. Loves Music, Loves to Dance by Mary Higgins Clark
32. All Around the Town by Mary Higgins Clark
33. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
Fine:
34. Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella
35. The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
36. Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts
Meh:
37. Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higgins Clark
38. Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

I didn't include Husband-Coached Childbirth by Robert A. Bradley since I figured that's a book almost no one will want to read unless you are A. Female B. Pregnant C. Wanting to deliver naturally. If you are interested though, I highly recommend it. It got me through my first 24 hours of labor.
There were also a bunch of books that I started but didn't bother to finish. I didn't write those down this year and don't remember any of them (except Moby Dick) so no "Stay Away From" column. Maybe next year.

Any book recommendations for me?

Five Months

2011-12-15T13:38:00.000-05:00

Dear T,
You are now 5 months and 2 days old.

Favorite new activities include: pulling your socks off and sucking on them, clawing at the Church hymnbook on Sundays and ripping apart my (excuse me, your) Reader's Digest.

You also like being thrown up in the air, blowing raspberries with your mouth and having mom and dad clap for you. We think you may be trying to clap yourself but you can't quite get it figured out yet. You like to practice when I'm nursing and can't get away. Thanks for all the new bruises.

You will actually nap for at least an hour (sometimes two, if I am lucky) in the afternoon. I put a black sheet up over the window and I think it helped.

Things you like now that you didn't before: taking a bath and tummy time. You roll over pretty often now, and I was able to capture it on tape once.

You seriously only do it when you think nobody's watching. You did it just now while I was writing this and not watching. You little stinker.

People always comment on your big brown eyes and chubby cheeks. I didn't realize this would be a perk of being a mom, but I love love love getting compliments about you. You hair is growing, slowly but surely and maybe some day you will have enough for me to put in a ponytail.

(Your dad wants to photoshop this picture into you being a ninja...)

Your favorite place to be is sitting in your bumbo on top of the dryer while I do laundry. I don't know why.

We love you.

Toys

2011-12-12T18:50:00.000-05:00

Today I put T in her bumbo and surrounded her with all her favorite toys.

And when I turned around, she was playing with her sock.
I don't even know why I bother to spend money on baby toys for her.
Also, I thought placing her with her back to the tree would prevent any mischief.

Wrong. These pictures were taken just after I ripped an ornament out of her mouth and placed it higher on the tree.

And I thought I would only have to worry about her messing with the tree starting next year.

Back From the Dead

2011-12-10T12:50:00.001-05:00

Today I am finally feeling better. Though I still have a bit of a pesky cough. And T I think is starting to show signs of sickness again....sigh.
Anyway. In celebration of at least Seth and I being healthy I made an advent calender.

Ignore the fact that I didn't get it up until the 10th.

The hat moves from snowman to snowman each day. I'm planning on getting a mini clothespin to attach it to, but a paper clip will do for now.
I love it!

A Late Thanksgiving Post

2011-11-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

I meant to post something last week.
But this is what's been happening for the past three weeks:
Tessa got sick. Then Seth. Then me. Then Tessa. Then Seth. Then me. Then Tessa. Then Seth. Then me.
Currently all three of us are sick and it sucks.

Tessa managed to grab a handful of my mashed potatoes at dinner last night and was upset that I wouldn't allow her to stick them in her mouth. I am blaming the sickness for my slow reflexes.

So this Thanksgiving I am very grateful for our usually healthy bodies and am praying they come back soon.

Happy Birthday Michelle

2011-11-18T19:15:00.000-05:00

Today is my oldest sister's birthday.

She is tough.

And good looking.

And a great aunt.

And despite being the oldest...

...she knows how to have a good time.

Happy Birthday Michelle!

4 Month Old

2011-11-17T16:12:00.001-05:00

Technically you were 4 months on Sunday.
But since at least one person in this house has been sick since last week, this post dropped to the back of my to-do list. You are sick for the second time in a week and all of us hate it.

We took you for a check-up at the doctor's office and he said you had the strength and body control of a 5-month old.
You're a buff baby.

You use that strength to grab at anything within reach and shove it in your mouth. New favorite objects for this game include your socks and feet.

Also my kitchen tools. Or really, anything that is not for babies. I found you sucking on an extension cord the other day. Safe Parenting award goes to: your mother.

You've rolled over twice. I suspect that you could do it all day long but you have zero desire to do so. Instead you cry at me to get you up off your stomach. Tummy time is not your favorite.

I sort of have a schedule for you, but you like to thwart my plans as much as possible. You seriously hate taking afternoon naps.
You love to read books with us before bedtime and I am perpetually afraid you are going to rip the pages of the library books I get for you.

You like to laugh and make funny noises. You're happiest when there are lots of people around to entertain you. You are turning into a very social baby. Church is your favorite.
Your mother bores you, often.

It's ok though, because I love you and I'm pretty sure you love me.
Even when I make you take naps.

Road Trippin' Part 1

2011-11-09T15:39:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Seth and I took a little trip up to BV to see our niece get blessed.

It is much less stressful to take a road trip with a baby when you have another adult with you.
Especially when that baby starts screaming at the top of her lungs halfway through your drive home.

Oh and the rest of my family was there for the blessing as well.
Including my crazy brother David.

T took this chance to bond with her cousin through a little friendly head-clawing. (An iphone was the only camera quick enough for this, hence the blurriness.)

Don't worry, she's ok.
She is also ridiculously cute.

T is also ridiculously cute.

My father is just ridiculous.

I'm going to estimate we spent about an hour taking family pictures which means I have a bajillion pictures that you will be forced to look at but since this post is long enough I'm saving that for next time.

Don't get too excited.

This little girl...

2011-11-02T10:31:00.000-04:00

...has decided the only thing worth doing in life is playing.

Nevermind how stressed her mother is about her lack of eating and sleeping.

All that matters are toys.

And sometimes books.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:50:00.000-04:00

We were pretty lame this year (again). We did absolutely nothing on Halloween. I wore my socks with skulls on them. That's about it.
We did at least go to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat party on Friday, but we didn't bring any candy for the kids. Whoops.
Instead we just thanked all their parents when they exclaimed over how cute T was.

And she is, isn't she?

Here's to hoping we get our act together for next Halloween.

For the grandparents.

2011-10-29T12:46:00.000-04:00

We managed to film her laughing.
Proof that she actually does laugh sometimes.
And yes, I am tickling her neck fats. Whatever works, right?

Enjoy.

Today.

2011-10-26T18:48:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I looked like this:

Today I look like this:

Tomorrow I'm going to the post office with a package for Locks of Love!

Tool Time

2011-10-23T19:30:00.000-04:00

Our Sunday night looks like this:

Seth is starting her out early on the tinkering.

Cousins

2011-10-16T23:18:00.000-04:00

Seth went camping last weekend so T and I decided we needed to go see her newest cousin.
So I'm posting a ~~few~~ lot of the 21687216845 pictures we took.

If you're wondering what the daughters of identical twin girls look like, the answer is:

Not identical at all.
It's like they don't even share half their genes!

Ridiculous.

Of course, that in no way deters our plan to take as many "twin" pictures of them as possible.

Napping buddies.

Ladybug buddies.

Uncle David buddies.

Isn't she so cute!?

I like to look at pictures of her and exclaim how cute she is to Seth almost as much as I like doing that with T and her pictures. Almost.

Thanks for letting us crash your house last weekend.
I'm sorry T was such a fussbucket.
(I thought I would be the one with the easier baby. And I was quickly proven wrong.)

3 Months Old

2011-10-13T14:16:00.001-04:00

I don't have a newborn anymore. I have a real, legitimate baby.

I told that to Seth the other day and his response was "As opposed to an illegitimate baby?"

Hardee-har-har. You are so funny Seth.

Not.

Who else remembers when saying "not" after everything was so cool? We should bring that back.

Anyway.

Her rolls continue to grow.

I used to be able to say that I had a very happy baby, and that she only cried when she was hungry.

I can't say that anymore. She can get pretty fussy.

But that's ok.

Here is some video of her new favorite thing: looking at herself in the mirror. I have a budding narcissist.

Ignore the camera issues. Taking a video and holding a baby up at the same time is difficult.

She also likes eating her hands.

She is starting to laugh some, but it comes and goes. Seth is clearly the winner when it comes to making her laugh, as he is more willing to make of a fool of himself. One of these days I will capture it on camera.

The past few days she has decided she doesn't want to eat and screams when I try. Then she screams because she is hungry.

Babies are so illogical sometimes.

Happy 3 months!

Happy Birthday Zac!

2011-10-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make.

Zac's birthday was last Thursday, September 29.

As in 3 days ago.

And I have absolutely no excuse for why this is 3 days late.

Also no excuse for the lack of posts lately. Does a baby who's suddenly decided she needs to wake up 3 or 4 times a night instead of 1 count? A baby that refuses to sleep longer than a half hour during the day? No?

Ok then. No excuses. My bad.

Zac is a fantastic brother/brother-in-law/uncle.

Happy (belated) Birthday!
Love, from your niece and her tired parents.

Sitting

2011-09-19T16:47:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I sit T on the couch so that I can putter around and she can watch me.

Sometimes it doesn't work out so well for her.

2 Months

2011-09-13T17:43:00.001-04:00

I have a 2 month old.
Let's talk about it.

She is getting very chunky. You can't see it that well in this picture, but there is a permanent double chin now in addition to her muffin top and thunder thighs.

Goodbye neck. See you in several months.

She's figured out how to smile and does it fairly constantly. She's a happy girl.
Her favorite thing to smile at is when we yawn loudly. Luckily (?) I am tired all the time so she gets to enjoy it often.

No laughing yet except for this one time when Seth and I were trying to change her diaper (messy diaper + flailing legs = mayhem). I think she was enjoying our panic. I don't care to repeat this experience to get her to laugh again.
Sometimes she giggles in her sleep and I wish desperately that I could know what she's dreaming about.

I guess I play with her a little more now (if you call sitting on the couch and yawning at her "playing") but for the most part she still spends the majority of her time sleeping and eating.
I told Seth I wished people judged me with the same criteria they judge T. For example: "Wow Janette! You are holding your head up so well! Hardly any bobbing at all, good job!" And I would feel great about myself all the time.
I am no longer afraid to run errands with her by myself. My new favorite activity is getting compliments from people about my adorable baby.

Now stop growing up T. I just want to be able to carry you around in my arms for the rest of my life, ok? Ok.

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-09-06T14:05:00.001-04:00

Dear mom,
Today is your birthday. (Did you know that?)
So I'm pretty sure I could tell you thank you over and over again for the rest of my life and it still wouldn't be enough for all you did for me because HOLY COW CHILDREN ARE SO MUCH WORK. And you had two of me at once. Plus an 18-month old.
Thank you times infinity.
Let's consider the webcam I'm getting soon so you can have video chats with me T your birthday present.
In the meantime, here are some video clips to tide you over.

This one is actually pretty boring except for the last 5 seconds where she goes all cross-eyed and looks hilarious. I wish Seth hadn't cut it off.

She's much better at holding her head up now. She doesn't do those big head swings anymore.

I keep trying to get a video of her grinning and this is the closest I've gotten. Apparently the camera fascinates her more than my goofy antics.

Happy Birthday! I love you.
-Janette

Happy Birthday Dad!

2011-09-02T19:59:00.001-04:00

Today is my father's birthday.

He is very good to his children. Not at all abusive.

He is also very good with T.

No really. He is. She loves her granddad.

Probably because of their mutual love of taking naps.

Happy Birthday Dad!
Hope you fit in a good nap today.

Happy Birthday Tiffany!

2011-09-01T16:32:00.000-04:00

Today is my sister-in-law Tiffany's birthday.

I like this picture of the two of you.
I suppose now would be the appropriate moment to admit how jealous of Tiffany's curly brown hair I am.
I am way jealous.
Also her woodworking skills. She is my back-up if Seth can't do it.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, classy and talented sister-in-law!

I Don't Understand Babies.

2011-08-31T16:43:00.000-04:00

I'm really tired, so I will think I will just cry about it instead of doing the sensible thing and going to sleep.

I'm hungry and even though I'm being offered food, I think I want to just cry for a good half-hour first and then eat.

I finally went to sleep because I'm so tired from crying. But I think I'll wake up in a half-hour and cry because I'm suddenly no longer sleeping.

I want to be held and I want you to walk around too. If you sit down or put me down I will cry - and doubly hard if you don't do both at the same time.

I'm bored, so I'm going to cry.

Cry cry cry cry cry.

It's been a long day.

Disasters!

2011-08-29T16:25:00.000-04:00

Earthquake on Tuesday.
Hurricane on Saturday.
Tornadoes in April.

Who knew life in North Carolina would be so thrilling?

Our power was out for a few hours Saturday morning from Hurricane Irene, but other than that we were lucky. I still have some family in Virginia without power.

So this weekend I have been especially grateful for our nice apartment to live in and everything that goes along with having electricity.

A/C is the bomb.
And so is being able to use your bathroom without a flashlight.

Screen Time

2011-08-26T23:16:00.002-04:00

This is our other new daily activity with T.

Watching the psychedelic images on the music player. It fascinates her.
I also play music videos for her on youtube.
Her current favorite is Beyonce's "Single Ladies".

I've tried other music videos. She just doesn't yet appreciate the quality of OK Go. In fact, it made her start crying again.
And yes, I happily use the screen to entertain my 6-week old.

Just another parenting ideal that I've thrown out the window.

Walks

2011-08-24T10:50:00.001-04:00

This is our new daily activity.

And I had to wait a good long while to try it too because we had heat advisories/100 degree weather practically every day for the month or so after T was born.
And ain't no way I'm taking my baby out in that.

I will, however, take her out in 90 degree weather.
Because what else am I supposed to do to entertain the two of us? Making weird faces at her only lasts for so long, people.

She loves it.

Blessing

2011-08-22T10:15:00.001-04:00

We gave T her blessing last Sunday.
Almost the whole family (from both sides!) were there.

One sister and one brother-in-law are missing.

But all of the Winsors were there.

She loved getting her picture taken in her blessing dress.

This is also the dress that I was blessed in.
How sentimental!

Yep. I have a cute baby.

The Newest Winsor

2011-08-19T19:37:00.000-04:00

No, it's not another baby.
It's another member of what I like to call the "Winsor Wives club".
Marianne is getting married to Seth's brother Bryce tomorrow!
Unfortunately we won't be able to go, but they at least had a lovely reception last weekend here in Raleigh that we attended.

This is the best picture I got. The niece and nephew had to be in on the picture-taking action. Bryce and Marianne are the new favorites.

I remember when Seth and I were the favorite aunt and uncle.... I think it was right when we got married too. They must have a thing for weddings.

I'm sure Seth will go back to being the favorite once Bryce leaves though.

Congratulations Bryce and Marianne!

1 Month

2011-08-16T12:15:00.001-04:00

T turned 1-month old last Saturday.
Let's celebrate by looking at lots of pictures I took.

This is the sad face she makes when she cries and I think it's adorable. Sometimes I let her cry for a minute or two so I can see it.
I'm a terrible mother.

At 1-month T:
-is finally starting to spread out when she eats during the day. Now it's more like every 3 hours instead of every hour. Halleluah.
She does 5 or 6 hour stretches at night and I am loving it.
-is always happy and content. She cries when she's hungry and sometimes when she's gassy.
-hates getting a bath.
-loves getting her diaper changed.
-is getting better at lifting her head up, but we've had a few face plants that she didn't like.
-still doesn't do much else besides eat and sleep.

We love our little girl!

Check out the double chin.
Just like momma. Except cute.

Happy Anniversary

2011-08-14T16:12:00.000-04:00

Two wonderful years today.

I love you!

Like Father, Like Daughter.

2011-08-09T16:50:00.001-04:00

T is starting to take after her father.

She falls asleep in crazy positions.

She likes to eat A LOT.

She is almost always happy.

And she is so cute!

(I'm not choking her, I'm burping her.)

I love.

2011-07-29T16:47:00.001-04:00

I love this swing.
So does T.

I love it even more now because Seth tinkered with it and made it run off a plug instead of huge expensive D batteries.

I love that my husband likes to tinker.

I love that I found this picture on our camera today.
I love her face when she gets hungry.

I love this picture too.
I love that you can kind of see how her hairline goes down to her eyebrows.
I love my hairy baby.

And I love that face.

I am doing what I swore I wouldn't - posting 5 million pictures of my baby and talking about how adorable she is all. the. time.
I just don't have anything else to blog about.

Two Weeks Old

2011-07-27T14:18:00.000-04:00

We've managed to keep her alive and mostly happy for two whole weeks!
Despite the sleep deprivation.

This is what we've been up to:

Sleeping.

Visiting with family.

Getting her first bath and NOT enjoying it.

More sleeping.

Making funny faces.

Not pictured: Copious amounts of eating and pooping.
(You're welcome.)

Happy Birthday Rachel!

2011-07-22T13:55:00.001-04:00

Today is my SIL Rachel's birthday.
She just had a little girl 3 days ago, which I think is probably the best birthday present ever.
So I'm not even going to try and make this a fabulous blog post since I can't even compete.

Isn't this picture the best?
We went over to visit last night and put them in matching outfits but they didn't really want to cooperate with our picture-taking.
T isn't actually screaming/crying though. She's just yawning.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

The Birth Story

2011-07-17T20:58:00.000-04:00

If you don't want to read this I'll summarize it for you:

I am totally awesome and gave birth to a totally awesome daughter.

I should also mention that my "birth plan" was to go as natural as possible for as long as possible, and despite the crazy labor story I do not have any regrets about the decisions I made.

This is what happened:

Wednesday July 6 (Due Date) doctor's appointment:

Schedule an induction for Thursday July 14.

Spend the next week absolutely refusing to accept the fact that I will have to be induced.

Tuesday July 12 doctor's appointment:

Talk to the doctor. Finally accept that I will be induced and not go into labor naturally.

Half an hour later:

Go into labor naturally.

Panic.

11:30 PM:

Finally decide to go to the hospital when the contractions keep getting stronger.

12:00 PM:

Arrive at hospital. Contractions stop getting stronger.

1:00 PM:

Leave hospital. Contractions start getting stronger.

Very funny, uterus. Very funny.

4:00 AM:

Decide to go back to the hospital.

I get to stay this time.

And show off my natural laboring skills.

TWELVE HOURS LATER (Twenty-four since I officially started labor) at 4:00 PM:

Plead for drugs.

7:00 PM:

Plead for epidural.

I should mention that at this point I have been in transition for 5 hours. Typical time? 10 minutes - 2 hours.

I told you, I'm awesome.

8:00 PM:

Finally get epidural to work properly. It didn't cover my right side at first.

Blessed blessed sleep.

9:15 PM:

Push.

10:21 PM: Tessa!

I kept telling Seth throughout the pregnancy that my labor and delivery was going to be terrible because I had such a fabulous pregnancy. You know, just to keep things balanced.

Sometimes I hate it when I'm right.

But it was all so incredibly worth it.

The Babe with the Power

2011-07-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

I suppose if you are ever on facebook you will have noticed that our family has peppered the internets with pictures and announcements of the birth of Tessa.
But I'm her mother, which means mine is the official announcement. (Right?)

Born 7-13-11

10:21 pm

7 pounds 9 ounces

20.5 inches long

Prettiest baby ever.

It looks like we're yelling at each other but we're not.

That'll come when she's a teenager.

With her Grandma and namesake.

Thanks for all the well wishes/congratulations/compliments/prayers for me during my 30-hour labor.

Yes. 30 hours.

Stay tuned for that story.

(Don't worry, it won't be gross. After all, my Dad reads my blog.)

Still Pregnant.

2011-07-10T14:49:00.000-04:00

Yep.
I'm still waddling around.

My face does not accurately express the emotions I feel about this fact.

Apparently I am going to be pregnant FOREVER*.

I suppose this is my first lesson in being a parent: I am not in control. Baby is.

It's a miserable lesson to learn this way.

What did I get myself into?

*Not actually true, since I'm getting induced on Thursday if she doesn't show up before then.

Due Date

2011-07-06T15:20:00.000-04:00

Today is my official due date.

Obviously I am still pregnant.

This is how I feel about the whole situation.

!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Seth

2011-07-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Today is Seth's birthday. He'll be 26.
For a while our friend Joseph and I tried to confuse Seth into thinking he was a year older than he really was, but in the end it just confused me as well so I had to stop.
He really is turning 26 today though.

Here are a few pictures that showcase some of my favorite things about Seth:

He loves to eat everything. I never have to worry about cooking something for him. I made a box of Rice-A-Roni the other day and he spent the entire dinner telling me how fantastic it was.
I think I used this picture last year for his birthday post too. Can you blame me? It is the best picture and I laugh hysterically every time I look at it.

How good you are with kids. This will come in handy soon because I just don't know what to do with babies.

That you were a hellion at the age of 4 and apparently got it all out of your system then.
Now you are pretty much perfect.
(Isn't this a great picture? Seth threatening to punch the photographer is the best part, of course.)

Happy Birthday Seth!

A Letter

2011-06-29T11:50:00.000-04:00

Dear washing machine,
I don't appreciate you deciding to go on the fritz all of a sudden. Did you think it would be funny to wait until a few weeks after the warranty expired? I certainly do not find it amusing.
And do you realize I have a baby girl coming in a few weeks? I don't know how much you know about babies, but they require your services. Frequently.
This is a most inopportune time for us, washing machine. I hope this letter has conveyed my dissatisfaction and that you will respond accordingly.
Sincerely,
Janette

38 Weeks

2011-06-25T20:14:00.000-04:00

I have 11 days until my due date (July 6).
Check me out.

I wrote a list of "Things to do before baby comes" because I'm OCD and I thought I would do a bunch of it during these last few weeks.
Yeah. Not happening.
I'm not lazy though. I am growing a human being, and it is hard work.
At least that's what I tell myself as I'm taking my second nap of the day.

Anyway. Tonight Seth and I sat down and made guesses. See?
Me:
Date: July 8
Weight: 8 lbs 5oz
Height: 20 inches
Seth:
Date: July 3
Weight: 7 lbs 5 oz
Height: 19 inches

You can guess too if you'd like to.
I'll name the baby after the winner.
Just kidding. Winner gets the satisfaction of winning.

Happy Birthday Bryce!

2011-06-23T22:48:00.000-04:00

Dear Bryce,

Seth and I miss living by you. Please move to North Carolina soon.

Also, Seth picked out this picture. So you should blame him and not me.

Happy Birthday!

-Your favorite brother and sister-in-law

Week o' Fun

2011-06-20T13:59:00.000-04:00

Last week I went to Buena Vista to visit my twin sister Amanda for a few days. Seth was gone on a Young Men's camping trip and Amanda's husband was gone for a Marines something-or-other, so we decided to get together. My brother David decided he would come along, since he was very bored at my Dad's house in Richmond.

Why he thought hanging out with his two pregnant sisters for the week would be better, I'm not sure.

What we did was sit on the couch a lot and play video games:

I took pictures.

Also we ate a lot, as evidenced by this lovely Facebook status David wrote:

David Toolson
chillin with my two sisters in BV (buena vista)! with two pregnant women and an teenage boy in the house ill be surprised if theres any food left by tommorow night haha

June 13 at 10:41pm · ·

I'll be honest, there wasn't much food left.
The most exciting thing we did was the haunted tour of Lexington, which I really did enjoy. But it was two hours of walking up and down the streets of Lexington, and I am 37 weeks pregnant. I was about to die.

I'm sad this picture is blurry. This is our tour guide. He's supposed to be a confederate soldier from the War of Northern Aggression, as he termed it (aka the Civil War). He was nicer than he looks.

Then Amanda and David came down to Raleigh with me for a few days, where we did pretty much exactly the same things. Except instead of a haunted tour, David attempted to play frisbee with us:

He quickly figured out that it was faster for him to run and pick up the frisbee himself when Amanda or I didn't catch it. Which turned out to be quite often (it was so hot and humid out and we are both so pregnant) so it ended up being more like David playing frisbee with himself for about 15 minutes before we all gave up on the idea.

All in all it was a good week. Being lazy is much more fun when you have other people to be lazy with.

I'm very pregnant.

2011-06-08T20:58:00.001-04:00

I'm 36 weeks today.
I feel humongous.

Don't be fooled by that happy smile.
I am done with being pregnant.
The girl, unfortunately, is not done.
So I wait. And complain.

I just want to sleep on my back again, all right?
I also want to be able to sleep through the night again, but we all know that's just going to get a whole lot worse. I suppose I will take getting up twice a night for now.
What did I get myself into?

A clip of Seth

2011-06-05T12:38:00.000-04:00

The scene: The bathroom. Sunday morning. Getting ready for church.
Seth is combing his hair. Janette is putting on make-up.

Janette: chattering on and on about how she should fix her hair this morning.

Then: *silence*

Seth: "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard."

Aaaaaand cut!

Strawberry Picking

2011-06-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

Seth and I went strawberry picking last week. Because we are really good decision-makers and carefully think things through beforehand, we waited until
1. the very end of strawberry picking season here when there were hardly any good strawberries left.
2. the temperature had reached into the 90s.
3. I was 8 months pregnant.

I suppose the pregnancy thing can't be helped, though I still think 7-months versus 8-months would have made a difference.

I just can't bend over and squat down like I used to be able to.
A skill I didn't realize could be taken for granted.

We spent about an hour there before I decided we had enough for my purposes - homemade strawberry jam.
Actually the last ten minutes were spent telling Seth to hurry up and let's go. He just couldn't resist picking a few last strawberries to pile on top of his bucket.

He takes his ability to bend over and squat down for granted.

I don't have any pictures of the strawberry jam-making process or the finished results, but Seth and I have almost gone through a whole jar already.

The back pains were so worth it.

Happy Birthdays

2011-05-28T16:46:00.000-04:00

Today my twin sister Amanda turns 24.
This means today I also turn 24.

Did you know that while I was growing up, after finding out Amanda and I were identical twins, lots of people would then ask
A. how old each of us was at the time
B. when each of our birthdays was
C. if that meant we were the same age/had the same birthday

I could list a lot more dumb questions that I have been asked multiple times.

Sometimes it makes me sad how uneducated America seems about twins.

Anyway. Happy Birthday to us!

Sunbeams

2011-05-24T08:51:00.000-04:00

I don't know if I mentioned this on my blog before or not, but my current calling in church is with the Sunbeams. There is one other woman who serves with me, and together we are responsible for between 9 and 12 three-year-olds.
And that is a lot of three-year-olds.

Did you know?
Three-year-olds don't like to sit still and be quiet and listen to the lesson.
Three-year-olds need help during the potty break and they like to raise their hands and tell you about their birthday when you're trying to tell them about Jesus.
Three-year-olds like to raise their hands, period, and that's only after you've reminded them that if they have something to say, they need to raise their hand and not yell it out over and over again until someone acknowledges them.
Three-year-olds will raise their hands and yell "Sister! Sister!" until you've acknowledged that they've raised their hand so that they can tell you about their birthday.
Three-year-olds cry and insist on sitting in your lap despite the fact that your lap might be non-existent at the moment. Sometimes they will adjust themselves by elbowing your pregnant belly.
Three-year-old girls refuse to hold hands with or sit by three-year-old boys. Three-year-old boys refuse to hold hands with or sit by three-year-old girls.

Sundays: Day of rest?

Nope.

32 Weeks.

2011-05-15T17:11:00.001-04:00

Technically, since I procrastinated until today to take pictures, I am 32 weeks and 4 days.

But who's counting.

I don't have anything exciting to say about the fact that I am 32 weeks and 4 days pregnant, except for that I feel a lot huger than this picture makes me look.

When my mom calls me on the phone and asks how the baby is doing, my answer is something like: "Oh yeah. Um.... she's good."
And then when there is a long pause and I realize she's waiting for more I come up with stuff like "You know, she's just.... bopping around in there. Doing her thing. You know, growing and stuff. Getting bigger all the time! Yep. She's good......"

Sorry mom. I still haven't figured out how to answer that question.

Exciting News

2011-05-09T19:54:00.000-04:00

Seth got an internship!
So we decided to go ahead and spend in advance all the money he'll make this summer on a sweet new ride:

Just kidding.
Our actual car is currently spending the weekend getting expensive repairs at the car shop after unexpectedly refusing to start for us. Something about a fuel pump.
This is Seth's dad's car, generously loaned to us while he was out of town for the weekend.
It makes me really nervous to drive it.
So I've tried to stay home as much as possible.
Which is about the same as how I normally spend my days.
So not that big of a difference.

Anyway.
Seth's first day was last Monday, but he is still trying to finish up his last few weeks of finals and final projects for the semester. It means he's been feeling a little like this lately:

Yes, he's actually sleeping in this photo. I did not pose him. It surprises me (though it shouldn't) how often he manages to fall asleep on our too-tiny-to-really-fall-asleep-on couches.

What can I say, the man is talented.

Our Baby

2011-05-05T08:56:00.000-04:00

I keep warning Seth that our baby is going to be fat and bald and not that cute, because that's how I looked as a baby.
Seth just laughs at me because he was a cute little baby. And he had hair.
See?

Awww. So precious.
Now let's take a look at me.

Yikes!

Wow. Good thing I grew up to be good looking. (Right? Right?)

Check out those huge double chins.

If you look at these pictures side-by-side it looks like I am going to eat Seth up.

(This is where I spent a while figuring out how to put the pictures side-by-side and when I finally managed to do it, I accidentally got rid of it. And I don't have the patience to do it again for you. So just imagine it...)

So it's a legitimate concern of mine that my baby will be not so cute. And I'll be so consumed with new baby love I won't even realize it, and then I'll be all "Oh, isn't my baby the cutest baby in the whole wide world?" and then everyone will feel sorry for me and my not-cute baby.
Please, please baby: take after Seth.

P.S. Can you guess which one I am?
I'm in pink.
I wouldn't be able to tell either, actually, except that I know I ALWAYS wore pink as a child.

Sometimes I'm crafty.

2011-05-02T14:54:00.000-04:00

And I make things like this chandelier.

I got the idea from here: http://dollarstorecrafts.com/2010/05/make-a-beaded-chandelier/
Except in that one everything is spray-painted which I did not do because I am pregnant and that is a no-no. So instead I found some prettier beads at Party City that I wouldn't have to spray paint. Which means my chandelier was $15 instead of $9. Totally worth it.
In fact I may have done that even if I wasn't pregnant because I am a pretty lazy person.
In progress:

Maybe when I am not pregnant I will go back and paint the black wire basket, but for now I am satisfied.

I feel so classy.

Well, classy as long as I'm only looking at my chandelier and not the huge Goodwill pile sitting next to my dining room table and the empty pictures frames that I've been meaning to fill for 6+ months and the trash that needs to be taken out....

What else? A post about me and the fact that I'm pregnant.

2011-04-27T19:31:00.000-04:00

Something happened when I got pregnant. I suddenly forgot everything I've ever heard about pregnancy.
So now, for me, life is like this:
Whaaa? Why do I have to eat so much more now? Wait a minute - this must be because I'm pregnant!
or
I feel like lately I've been so much clumsier....why is that? Hmmm.............Oh hey! Maybe it's because I'm pregnant.
or
I don't understand why I'm yawning when I slept 10 hours last night and took a nap today. What's happening to me?! Oh wait, yeah. I'm pregnant.

Sometimes I feel like I am in the process of making a new medical discovery that I can share with the world about pregnancy before I realize that absolutely everyone already knows these things happen to pregnant women.

Probably also why I feel the need to blog about it all the time.

Sometimes I spend my days coming up with lists in my head like this:
Things I took for granted before I was pregnant:
1. Being able to roll over in bed with minimal effort.
2. Being able to get out of the car with minimal effort.
3. Sleeping through the night.
4. Getting through 3 hours of church without sneaking food for myself.
5. Bending over to put on my socks.

Sometimes I look at pictures of myself pre-pregnancy and wish I could go back in time and tell myself that I shouldn't worry about whether or not I had a flat stomach.

I miss you flat stomach.

Happy Birthday Amy

2011-04-23T22:29:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother-in-law Amy!

Thanks for doing such a good job raising Seth. I am definitely reaping the benefits.

Also thanks for letting us come over to play games and sometimes beat you at them...

Happy Birthday Adam

2011-04-17T22:27:00.001-04:00

Today is my oldest brother Adam's birthday. He is an awesome guy. He is very good at his inspiring (and slightly illegal) hobby of visiting and photographing old abandoned places.

Here are three of my favorite shots that he took at a nuclear power plant that was built but then never turned on.

Here's a link if you want to see more of his photography:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/avius/

Happy Birthday Adam!

28 Weeks

2011-04-14T21:45:00.000-04:00

I'm 28 weeks. 6 months along. Starting my 3rd trimester.
What in the heck did I get myself into? I'm not responsible enough to have a child. I need 3 more years to get ready, not 3 months.
I made Seth take pictures of me tonight at 9:30. That's why the lighting is so bad. I'm sorry.

This one was taken in the middle of me saying "Hey, can you tell I'm pregnant from the front?"

I think the answer is a resounding yes.

I love you, maternity clothes. Especially you, stretchy waist-banded jeans. You are the best.

Happy Birthday Stuart

2011-04-11T11:39:00.000-04:00

This is my charming brother-in-law Stuart.

He doesn't normally pose nicely for photos like this.
Normally, he does this:

See? Charming.

Anyway.
I tried to come up with a list of reasons why we all love Stuart or a good story about him, but all I can think about is the last time Amanda visited me and explained to me very matter-of-factly how Stuart thinks he is part Animagus and will often pretend to be different animals around the house.
Yep.

Happy Birthday Stuart!

Life

2011-04-07T16:11:00.000-04:00

Sometimes people that I don't know comment on my blog. This fascinates me because I've always considered my blog to be just interesting enough to keep my mom reading it, but not really anyone else.
This post will probably drive all those unknown people away, because it's just a boring update on the lives of Seth and I.
It's like a Christmas card, except in April.
Because I want to.

Seth mostly spends his days doing homework, working on his various tinkering projects, and searching for jobs/internships. This last item he particularly hates.
Dear Universe, please land a good job/internship in our laps. Thanks, Seth and Janette.
He also works with the young men in our ward and really enjoys it. Especially right now because he is teaching them the electricity merit badge, which means he got to bring his homemade taser to mutual to shock all the boys. They're 14-16 years old, which means they thought it was totally awesome.

I mostly spend my days experimenting in my kitchen, researching recipes, or looking up all things baby-related. Thanks to the free time, my apartment is the cleanest it's ever been (minus Seth's tinkering objects strewn about.) I have interpreting assignments 2-3 times a week. I read a lot of books. The amount of time I spend sleeping is embarrassing.

We almost maybe had some jobs that would have required us to move, but they didn't pan out so we are currently planning on staying in Raleigh for the summer. I've now added apartment researching to my list of things to do during the day.

Seth and I still can't agree on which name we want for the baby. I am 27 weeks along (due July 6), and although I am small for 6 months (according to all the strangers that comment on my pregnancy when I'm out and about), I cannot wear any of my pre-pregnancy clothes at the moment. She likes to kick me a lot and it can get uncomfortable. My hips hate me and I hate them.

So there is our mundane life in case you were interested.
There's a reason the blog posts have not been prolific.....

Time-Lapse Camera

2011-03-29T17:13:00.000-04:00

I suppose this post will be rather geekier in nature than all the baby-related things that Janette has been posting lately. As any good tinkerer, I enjoy showing off when I have a project that actually works.

My latest project has been the modification of my old digital camera to link with an Arduino microcontroller so that it can be used for time-lapse photography. This is just the prototype; in the end there should be a lot fewer wires hanging out everywhere.

Skipping all the technical details, it's basically able to take pictures at regular intervals so you can make a fast-forward movie of a normally slow event.

To test it out, Janette and I decided to put together a puzzle with the camera taking a picture every 40 seconds. The puzzle ended up taking about two and half hours to put together, but with the magic of time-lapse all of you can experience the action-packed event just by watching a short video.

Next on the list of things to do a time lapse of:
a plant growing
bread rising
clouds moving across the sky
something rotting or growing mold (Janette is trying to veto this one)

Anyone have any ideas to add?

Pregnancy Update

2011-03-17T22:33:00.001-04:00

My sister Katie was in Richmond with my family for Spring Break this week, so last night Seth and I met them halfway for dinner.
Since none of them have seen me since I announced my pregnancy at Christmas, they promptly freaked out when they saw my now obviously pregnant belly. They couldn't stop staring at it.

In fact, my sister Katie pronounced it "so disgusting."
Not quite the reception I was expecting.

Although I must say I think my father was even more shocked when he asked me later if I was going to watch "the game" tonight and I replied, what game? (Apparently there is a really good basketball player at BYU nicknamed "Jimmer." Have you heard of him?......)

In other sisters-being-supportive-of-my-pregnancy news, all three had the same reaction when I told them the two baby names we were thinking of:

"Oh. Ok. Well..... I guess I could see people growing to like that."

This is not just confined to my sisters. It's everyone's reaction. (Except for oddly enough my father, who loves one of the names.) I thought this would bother me, but it really doesn't. I think it's because I'm so relieved to have finally found not one, but TWO names that Seth and I actually agree on.

I always thought naming a baby would be fun. Nope. It sucks.

EDIT: The names are Stella and Tessa.

Miracle Berry Party

2011-03-16T16:08:00.000-04:00

Seth got some Miracle Berry tablets for Christmas that he has been dying to try out.

Miracle Berry tablets (for everyone who is not totally trendy, hip and in-the-know like Seth and I always are) are little pills that alter the way your taste buds work. They change sour/bitter flavors to sweet. See the explanation here.

So we called up the family and invited them to partake.

And I will let you know that while passing out everyone's pill, jokes were made about LSD parties. It was inevitable.

These are the items we decided to test.

1. Apple juice.

2. Apple Cider Vinegar. Only Adam tried this and declared it terrible, so no one else ventured to test it.

3. Pickles. My 2nd favorite transformation. I actually liked them.

4. Salt and Vinegar chips.

5. Craisins.

6. Blueberries.

7. Sour Gummi-worms. My 1st favorite transformation, since I hate sour candy and I love gummi-worms.

8. Mandarin oranges. Much sweeter than normal.

9. Apple Cranberry juice. Oddly made it seem not as tasty.

10. More apple cider vinegar.

11. Lime juice. I took a big swig and realized it was still very potent, despite the lack of tartness.

12. Molasses. Made me consider actually liking molasses.

13. Seltzer water. Seth was hoping it would change the taste to something like Sprite. It didn't. Anyone in Raleigh want an almost full bottle of Seltzer water?

14. Lemon juice.

15. Fresca. Still yummy, but in a weird way.

We also had:

16. Lemons. The biggest change in taste according to Seth and I.

17. Grapefruit. Seth's favorite.

18. Granny Smith apple.

We almost got E to drink some pure lemon juice, but she got stage fright when Rachel and I whipped out our cameras to catch her expression on film. Oh wells. She tried it later when there were no cameras around, claiming it was delicious in spite of her eye twitching.

Overall, we declared it a success.

I must say that since I have been married to Seth, I do a lot of things I never thought I would do.

Or actually even realized I could do.

Dear Baby,

2011-03-02T23:18:00.000-05:00

What in the heck are you doing in my uterus? It's not a gymnasium for pete's sakes.
Sincerely, your mother.
p.s. I love you. And I promise to pick out a name soon and stop calling you "baby."

We're so exciting.

2011-02-25T22:18:00.000-05:00

It's Friday night. Time to go out, socialize, stay up late and do fun and exciting things, right?

No.

Seth is doing homework. I am watching re-runs of Project Runway.
We had Mac N' Cheese for dinner.
And now that it's 10pm, I'm going to bed.

I've heard people warn pregnant women that once they have a baby their social life will become non-existent.
I'm not worried though. I think I've already reached that point.

Things I don't understand

2011-02-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

1. Seth's Engineering homework
2. Bieber fever (How did this come about? I still haven't ever heard him on the radio...)
3. The appeal of running
4. Why people hate country music SO MUCH.

Seth thinks I need to add "the vital difference between soup and stew." This is because I use the words interchangeably because it's practically the same thing. Vegetables/meat in a liquid. The consistency of the liquid doesn't matter to me.
To Seth, it does. It matters deeply.
So I'll add this:

5. How Seth's brain works

Half-way Mark

2011-02-16T18:44:00.000-05:00

Today I am 20 weeks pregnant. The half-way mark.
Want to see?
This is from two weeks ago, the day we found out we were having a girl.

And this is from today. I don't know what's going on with my smarmy expression.

Pregnancy highlights so far:
-Trying on three different skirts and still needing to safety pin one. Why don't I have any stretchy waistbands?
-Eating several meals a day. I feel like a hobbit.
-It is getting just a bit more difficult to move around. I shudder to think what it will be like by the end.
-I don't know what's happened to my brain. I keep realizing I've forgotten to do stuff. More than normal, I mean.

I just realized this may be kind of boring to some of you.
I suppose you'll just have to take that risk when you read my blog.

Happy Birthday David

2011-02-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

Look at this punk.

It's my one and only brother David and today he turns 15.

The only thing I can say about David is that everybody loves him. Everybody. Anytime anyone meets him for the first time, they always tell me afterward, "Your brother David is so funny, your brother david is so cool, I really like your brother David, oh I love that kid, he is awesome, blah blah blah."

All I can say is, I agree, but boy you haven't seen him after he's lost a game. Not pretty.

Happy Birthday David! Thanks for being a good brother. You're my favorite.

And I can't believe what a shrimp you used to be.

Happy Birthday Katie!

2011-02-10T10:43:00.001-05:00

Dear Katie,
Today you turn 18. This means you can:
1. Vote
2. Buy cigarettes
3. Go to night clubs
4. Get married without parental consent
5. Get divorced
6. Sue someone
7. Get sued.
8. Work longer hours
9. Book hotel rooms
10. Own a credit card
11. Gamble in a casino
~~12. Buy and drink alcohol~~
13. Rent an apartment in your name
14. Chew tobacco
15. Open a paypal account
16. Own a weapon
17. Be tried and convicted as an adult
18. Order stuff off the TV
But just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Trust me. All those crazy nights getting drunk....
Just Kidding.
Have a good birthday and enjoy being a legal adult!
-Janette

I don't have any good pictures of you Katie. And it's all your fault. But doesn't this one make you laugh?

EDIT: Sorry about the alcohol mix-up. I put very little effort into this post and just googled a list to put on here. I figured if it was on the internet, it's got to be true. Does this prove I have never bought or drunk alcohol? Or just that I am ignorant?

Either way Katie, I don't think it matters for you that much. At least I hope not...

The Thermostat

2011-02-08T21:19:00.000-05:00

So.

Seth has been doing this sneaky thing lately where he will flip the thermostat switch from "heater" to "off" without telling me.

And it is sneaky because the switch has been on "heater" since November. We adjust the temperature to turn the air on or off.

It seems his preferred time of the day to do this is just before he leaves to go do something.
This leaves me sitting at home and freezing for hours, turning the temperature higher and higher and desperately wondering why the heater is not turning on.
Then Seth gets home and he laughingly explains what he did.
I can assure you he is the only one laughing.

Please hurry up and get here summer. I need you before my husband turns me into a popsicle.

P.S. Seth just read this and is offended that I didn't include "why" he is being so sneaky. It's because I maybe possibly might have kind of burned dinner and needed to open the door to let in a little fresh air.
Twice.
But look, I only had the door open for 10 minutes, tops.
And I obviously spent the next few hours paying for it. Maybe it's punishment for burning his dinner?

Baby Announcement

2011-02-02T17:05:00.000-05:00

It's a girl!

It took me a few minutes to wrap my head around this, since I was absolutely convinced it was going to be a boy. Let's hope my mothering instincts get a little sharper.
Actually I was so sure it was going to be a boy that we had a name picked out already. (Charlie) I swear, the months it took for me to get Seth to agree on that name....all while he was suggesting names like Horatio.
So now we have to come up with girl names. Seth has already suggested "Brunhilda."

Yeah. Good thing I have 5 more months to figure something out.

We are having a little girl!

It's Alive

2011-02-01T19:33:00.000-05:00

Today, I felt the baby move.
At least, I think so. It may just have been lunch.

Also, it never occurred to me before how odd it is to be pregnant. There is a person living in me. A human being inside of my body. INSIDE of my BODY!! And it POKES me!

I hope I am not the only person to think about this. Or to be weirded out by it.

Tomorrow I will maybe find out whether the baby is a boy or a girl. Then I can finally start using appropriate pronouns instead of "it."

That would be nice.

I feel the need to add that although I may have thought of this clip almost instantly after I felt the baby move, I do not think of my baby as a Frankenstein/monster.

And, pokes is a funny word when you say it several times in a row.

Happy Birthday Tara

2011-01-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

Today, it's this girls birthday.

She is turning the ripe old age of 19.
I tried to look up exciting things that happen on your 19th birthday, but unfortunately there's really nothing. Except for the fact that you are entering your last year of teenager-hood....

I hope it's better than this blog post.

Happy Birthday Tara!

Exciting Life of a Pregnant Woman!

2011-01-22T22:08:00.000-05:00

Guess what. It's actually not that exciting.

My mom called me the other day incensed because I hadn't called to update her about my pregnancy, but it's only because I had nothing to say. This was our conversation:

Have you started to show yet?

No.

Have you felt the baby move yet?

No.

Do you know the gender yet?

No.

Do you have a list of names picked out?

No.

Do you want a baby shower?

No.

Have you been feeling sick?

No.

Have you been feeling any pregnancy symptoms?

No.

Do you know where you will be living when the baby is born in July?

No.

And lots of other inquiries to which my answer was No or I don't know, I haven't thought about it.

So basically I am the most boring pregnant woman ever. Sorry everyone.

I did break one of our kitchen chairs the other day though. The seat cracked and now I'm not allowed to sit in the chair until Seth can reinforce it.

I swear I've only gained 10 pounds.

Ok. Maybe 15.

I'm 17 weeks though....that's supposed to be normal, right?.

But I don't think breaking a chair is...

I don't think I will mention it to the doctor.

Dreams

2011-01-18T19:57:00.000-05:00

Last night I dreamed that a job assignment for a teacher at a middle school was given to me.
I arrived at the school to find that there was no Deaf person to interpret for. Instead, the teacher wanted me to perform an interpretive dance for one of her lessons. Apparently interpreter and interpretive dancer were equal in her eyes.
I became incensed and said Heck no! That's not what I do! and walked out in a huff. I also recall leaving a note with the principal about what a stupid teacher he employed.
Then I woke up all angry.

Luckily this was in the middle of the night so I fell back asleep and forgot to be angry when I woke up for real.
This happens often (waking up angry, not dreaming about interpretive dancing) and poor Seth has often born the brunt of my dream-emotions. Since I rarely remember my dreams it takes me a while to realize that the anger I'm feeling is not the result of anything that happened in real life. I find these situations amusing. Seth does not.

It's a wonder he still likes being married to me.

One time (actually, several times) he dreamed that the two of us were International spies, but I was a double agent and he had to capture me and kill me. He said it was a very thrilling dream and he was not the least bit sorry about doing his spy duties.

I don't feel so bad for him when I remember this.

From the mind of Seth

2011-01-14T20:16:00.000-05:00

Seth's thoughts on soon being a parent:
"When we get a chew toy for our baby can I get one too?"
Me: "Ok, first of all, chew toys are for dogs and teething toys are for babies. Second, no you cannot get one for yourself."
Seth: "Same thing. Let's get a bone shaped one. Chew toys for dogs are probably cheaper anyway, it makes more sense."
Me: "I'm not going to justify that with a response."
Seth: "Well, I guess you have a lot to learn about parenting."

My thoughts on soon being a parent:
Heaven help me.

Lately

2011-01-12T16:01:00.000-05:00

Dear J.K. Rowling,
I blame you.
You and your Harry Potter books. All 4,224 pages of them.
Thanks to you, I have spent the past 2 weeks furiously reading all 7 of them again, leaving my house messy and unkempt, and my neglected husband with nothing to do but play more video games than is probably healthy for him. And did you really think I would cook dinner regularly and get reasonable amounts of sleep, when I had Harry Potter to finish?
Obviously you did not, because my life is now in shambles.
But no more. I finished your series, and I refuse to pick them up again for a long long time.
Goodbye J.K. Rowling. And good riddance.
-Janette
p.s. Just kidding about the good riddance, I LOVE YOU AND I LOVE HARRY POTTER!

The Best Christmas Present

2010-12-30T13:20:00.000-05:00

Seth and I had a lovely Christmas.
We celebrated with Seth's family on Christmas day, and with my own family yesterday. (We're in Richmond at the moment.)
Our families are very generous and we got a lot of nice things, but I think my favorite moment was not getting a gift, it was giving one:

A new grandchild for all the parents.

Coming July 6.

I should mention this will be the Winsor's third grandchild, and the first in my family.
Everyone is very, very excited.
Especially Seth and me.

Happy Birthday to Dad and Isaac

2010-12-23T23:50:00.000-05:00

I guess both Isaac and Dad get ripped off a little having their birthdays so close to Christmas. In addition to that, they're also both getting ripped off by me for having birthdays that are so close together. Sorry, only one post congratulating both of you on growing older. At least this one is better than last year's, right?

Janette asked me to tell a good story about Isaac misbehaving as a kid. To all of our readers' disappointment, however, I couldn't actually think of any. Isaac has always been and still is a great guy. I hope his children turn out like he did.

As seen above, my dad is in his natural environment when he is in the woods. I'm really glad that he took me camping so much when I was a kid. He really does live up to his nickname of "Happy Pappy."

Happy Birthdays!

Say what?

2010-12-15T21:34:00.001-05:00

The impossible has happened!

Our ice cream has freezer burn.

Does this mean my ice cream addiction created from two years of working at Cold Stone Creamery is finally, finally abating?

Judging by the amount I ate tonight, I'm thinking not quite yet.

Christmas Glasses

2010-12-14T19:03:00.001-05:00

These are my Christmas Glasses.

I am in love with them.

I was given a set as a teenager to put in my hope chest for when I was married.

Yes, I have a hope chest. No, my family is not super old-fashioned.

It just doesn't feel like Christmas to me without them.

Each glass is a present from The 12 Days of Christmas.

They were made by Indiana Glass, and they are no longer in production.

A fact which makes them even more precious to me.

I love my Christmas glasses. I love them with a pure, Christmas-y love. And I hope you do too.

Amen.

Deal-Breaker

2010-12-10T19:54:00.000-05:00

I just asked Seth how I was supposed to pronounce Muppet. (I swear I've heard it pronounced like Muffet before and I just wanted to clarify.)
It took him SEVERAL minutes to get over the shock and sadness of me even having to ask a question like that before he would finally answer me.
So I decided now would be a good time to finally admit to him that I don't like the Muppets.

Ok, there, I said it. I don't like the Muppets. They're ugly, and weird, and not funny, and they make stupid jokes.
They're just not my thing.
Seth was horrified of course. He can't even comprehend what he's hearing.
I'm glad I waited until after we got married before I revealed this bit of news to him.
I think it would have been a deal breaker.

Stuck In My Head

2010-12-05T17:15:00.000-05:00

For the entirety of the winter season I will have two lines stuck in my head, thanks to Seth.
They're from a song in Muppet Christmas Carol.
Of course.
See the first 10 seconds of this song.

"When the cold wind blows it chills you....chills you to the bone!"
He sings it constantly.
And therefore, so do I.

Our Christmas Tree

2010-12-04T20:26:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we had a visit from my Dad and company, and he insisted on going Christmas tree shopping.
Apparently there are no more Cut-Your-Own Christmas Tree Farms close to where he lives, so he decided to do it with us in Raleigh.
Much to his dismay, they are also becoming a thing of the past here too. We did find a Pick-Your-Own Christmas Tree Farm, but they did not give you a saw to cut it down yourself. They did it themselves with a high-powered chain saw.
And would you be surprised if I told you that Seth and I immediately picked the ugliest tree to take home with us, simply because it was free?

You probably don't know us well enough if you said yes. You can't tell in the pictures, but the trunk looks like this: S.
And if you are doubting how truthful I'm being, here is a direct quote from an employee there: "Yeah when we were doing the pricing we came upon this one and we thought, man! that's an ugly tree, but we figured some family's bound to want it..."
Just call us Charlie Brown and Linus.
So they cleaned the tree out for us and we it took home and set it up so that you can't really tell the trunk is crooked, and then we decorated it.

And I am very much in love with our imperfect perfect little tree.

So to all those people who laughed at us for taking the ugliest tree on the lot home, I say, "Boo Yeah."

And, of course, Merry Christmas.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T12:09:00.000-05:00

We spent the day at the Winsor household with lots of people and lots of food.

It was delicious.

We're grateful that we can live so close to family, that I have a job, that Seth can get his Master's Degree, and that we have a great marriage, as well as all those thousands of other little things we normally take for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Scout Leader

2010-11-23T21:04:00.000-05:00

I love a man in uniform.
Just one of the perks of having a husband in the Young Mens organization.

Happy Birthday Michelle

2010-11-18T14:33:00.000-05:00

Dear Michelle,

Today is your birthday. You are turning 25. That is a quarter of a century old.

Better bust out the walking cane.

You old woman.

Love,

Janette

p.s. Here is a picture to help you remember your youth. It won't be long before the Alzheimer's takes over...

Happy Halloween

2010-11-09T15:01:00.002-05:00

Yes. I know it's November 9 and Halloween was over a week ago.
Does this mean Seth and I were rather apathetic about celebrating Halloween this year?
Let's look at the facts.

Fact #1: I am writing this post over a week late. Not because I haven't had time, or I didn't think of it until just now. I just didn't care to until this moment. It also could be that I am avoiding doing other, more productive activities...

Fact#2: Text conversation I had with my sister Katie on October 30.
K: What did you dress up as?
J: What?
K: For halloween....
J: I'm not dressing up. We're not going anywhere that I'd need to.
K: What about to hand out candy
J: We're going over to seth's parents house.
K: Why wouldn't you just dress up then?
J: Because it's not a costume party, it's just his family and I don't want to
K: You can still dress up...
J: Dude, let it go. I'm not dressing up. Now quit texting me I'm trying to go to sleep.
Sorry for being so snappy Katie.

Fact#3: Zero decorations. Unless you count the candy corn bowl of stale candy corn that sat on our coffee table for the month of October. (which you can kind of see on the right of the picture below)

Fact#4: I did not help carve the pumpkin. The pumpkin we bought at the very last possible minute. As in on the 30th. At night. From the Food Lion. I just watched Seth do it.

Fact#5 He carved it to look like this:

An apathetic face if I've ever seen one.

Conclusion: I was slightly more apathetic than Seth about celebrating Halloween, but neither of us were very celebratory.

Let's hope we can rouse our spirits in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The House Tonight

2010-10-28T20:21:00.000-04:00

Seth is going to be teaching a Merit Badge workshop on Electricity on Friday and Saturday.
He decided to prepare for it today.
When I came home from work I took a nap and when I woke up the table looked like this:

Electronics barfed all over my table.
Seth likes to keep things like this. He tinkers with them. When my hair dryer broke his eyes got real big and he asked me excitedly if he could please take it apart instead of me just throwing it away. He likes to go to Goodwill and buy old outdated electronic things so he can take them apart. His latest find was a joystick from the 90s. He keeps it all in a cardboard box in our bedroom and when he gets bored, he'll take the box out and start tinkering.
Usually when he does this, electronics barf all over my table. Like tonight.

I didn't complain though. I think because for the past 3 days I've been telling him I will do the dishes, no, no, you don't have to do them, I WILL do them, don't worry, don't worry.

And as of tonight the sink still looks like this:

Just keepin' it real here, folks.

Now maybe I'd better go do the dishes.

Maybe.

5 Years Later

2010-10-27T13:19:00.000-04:00

As part of my High School Senior English Project I had to ask people a series of questions about myself and record their responses. (This was probably my favorite project because it centered around my favorite subject - me.) One of my questions was, "What do you see me doing in 5 years?"

It has now been 5 years since I asked the question and I thought you might find it amusing what my family and friends thought I would be up to at this moment in time. Although I guess technically it would be May of this year, not October. Close enough.
Also, I just have to say that I remember working on this assignment and thinking 5 years was such a long way off. My, how the years have flown by.

What do you see me doing in 5 years?
Mom: Finishing college or beginning masters, married, pregnant with first child
Step-Dad: Graduated from college
Dad: Probably your last year of college; you've changed degrees a couple of times, but you're finally excited about what you're majoring in and you're now thinking of graduate school. You have a serious boyfriend and are thinking about getting married after you graduate.
Sister Michelle: At college working your butt off, but with a Mr. Hunk boyfriend on the side.
Sister Amanda: A famous artist who has just has some art piece put in the Met, with a hottie RM who will ask you to marry him
Friend Laura: Makin' babies. Just kidding. Seriously...taking over the world.
Friend Janell: Probably a newlywed (married within the past 2ish years) working a part time job with your little starter house
Friend Katie: Married with 3 kids. Ha!

Hmm...both my parents said I'd be going to graduate school. Sorry to disappoint, parents.
Also, I definitely lucked out and got a hottie Mr. Hunk RM to marry.
Also, no babies.
Yet.

Babysitting

2010-10-13T22:03:00.000-04:00

Today Seth and I had the privilege of babysitting our niece and nephew while their parents were out of town. We picked them up at 8:30 this morning and spent the whole day watching them.
It was quite the adventure.
I can't say what the first couple of hours looked like, since I actually had an interpreting assignment this morning and had to leave as soon as we got to our place with them. But when I came back the apartment was a lot messier than it was when I left.
But look how cute!

So then we decided to take them on a walk around the lake by our house. We'd take them to feed the ducks. It would be so cute!

Only, the walk was a lot longer than Seth and I were expecting, and the ducks turned out to be 30 or 40 food-crazy geese that almost made me a widow when Seth decided to do a "trial run" before handing the bread over to the children.

As Seth said, "I've never experienced an adrenaline rush while feeding the ducks before."

Needless to say, the long walk we forced the children to go on was not rewarded with getting to feed the ducks, a fact none of us were very happy about.

But look how cute!

We had lunch and headed over to Seth's parent's house since we needed a place for T to take his nap and they would be staying there overnight anyway.
And even though we only had one child to look after for most of the afternoon, by the end of the night Seth and I were like this:

Yikes.
I can't decide whether babysitting your niece and nephew for a whole day is the BEST or WORST birth control ever.
Because, look how cute!

Graceful: Part 2

2010-10-05T20:28:00.000-04:00

Seth just knocked over his entire cup of ice water onto our carpet.

We were meant to be!

(And let's just ignore all that water on the kitchen floor from when I dropped the newly filled ice cube trays earlier tonight...)

David Visits

2010-10-04T22:24:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I write down things people have said in an unpublished blog post so that I can revise it later and publish something funny with word-for-word quotes. (Seth sent me this comic after I did this to him for practically one entire night.) I know, it's an odd habit. I can't help it.
Apparently I forgot about this one and I have just discovered it again tonight.
They are quotes from my younger brother David when he came to visit Seth and I back in June. (or was it July?)
I thought they were good enough to deserve an actual published blog post.
I miss you David.

Me: Where's your beach towel?
David: *blank stare*
Me: Remember how I told you to bring one since we don't have an extra?
David: Yeah. . . . . No no, it's ok. I'm so hot, I'll just dry off.

Right after hugging me goodnight - tenderly - he suddenly remarks, "Hey. You know I can manhandle you?"
Then he puts up his fists and gives me a head nod.
"Bring it."

Graceful.

2010-10-01T22:28:00.002-04:00

When I was younger I used to think I was rather graceful.
In fact I was so sure of this that whenever I did do something clumsy (which, in retrospect, was quite often), I'd think to myself that it was a fluke. A one-time occurrence. A blip on my otherwise graceful existence.
I am not exaggerating here. I even imagined that in the biographies that would be written about me (I had quite a vivid imagination, if you couldn't tell) they would make special note of how graceful I was. That's how much I believed it.
But tonight I decided that if they do write autobiographies about me (And hey, it could happen. Leave me some dreams intact, please.) there will be no mention of my gracefulness. Tonight I realized that I am not just not graceful, I am actually very clumsy.
This is because tonight I kicked over my open water bottle and dumped water all over the carpet.
But Janette, you say, That's not so bad. That's a one-time fluke.

It's not.
It's the third night in a row that I've done it.
The first AND SECOND time, the water poured right onto the computer. (Don't worry, I didn't ruin it.)

*Sigh*
Goodbye, dreams of gracefulness.
Here's to hoping I don't do it again tomorrow night.

Zac's Weird Nicknames

2010-09-29T14:00:00.001-04:00

Thackerus.

Ziggy-Zeusky.

Hoobens Bueno.

Sachmo Eskimo.

Zach (rhymes with hatch).

Pugsley.

These are just a few of the strange names that my brother Zac has acquired over the years.

(no need to mention who came up with these names for him)

I've suggested many of these names and others to Janette as possibilities for our future children,

but she doesn't seem to like the idea very much...

Happy Birthday Zac!

The Amazing Winsors

Tired.

Videos

6 Months

Christmas Card

My Name

Merry Christmas

Happy Birthday Isaac and Wayne!

Life with a 5-month old.

Books: 2011

Five Months

Toys

Back From the Dead

A Late Thanksgiving Post

Happy Birthday Michelle

4 Month Old

Road Trippin' Part 1

This little girl...

Happy Halloween

For the grandparents.

Today.

Tool Time

Cousins

3 Months Old

Happy Birthday Zac!

Sitting

2 Months

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Tiffany!

I Don't Understand Babies.

Disasters!

Screen Time

Walks

Blessing

The Newest Winsor

1 Month

Happy Anniversary

Like Father, Like Daughter.

I love.

Two Weeks Old

Happy Birthday Rachel!

The Birth Story

The Babe with the Power

Still Pregnant.

Due Date

Happy Birthday Seth

A Letter

38 Weeks

Happy Birthday Bryce!

Week o' Fun

David Toolsonchillin with my two sisters in BV (buena vista)! with two pregnant women and an teenage boy in the house ill be surprised if theres any food left by tommorow night haha

I'm very pregnant.

A clip of Seth

Strawberry Picking

Happy Birthdays

Sunbeams

32 Weeks.

Exciting News

Our Baby

Sometimes I'm crafty.

What else? A post about me and the fact that I'm pregnant.

Happy Birthday Amy

Happy Birthday Adam

28 Weeks

Happy Birthday Stuart

Life

Time-Lapse Camera

Pregnancy Update

Miracle Berry Party

Dear Baby,

We're so exciting.

Things I don't understand

Half-way Mark

Happy Birthday David

Happy Birthday Katie!

The Thermostat

Baby Announcement

It's Alive

Happy Birthday Tara

David Toolson
chillin with my two sisters in BV (buena vista)! with two pregnant women and an teenage boy in the house ill be surprised if theres any food left by tommorow night haha