It's Been A While!

Yikes! I just realized it's been quite a long time since I've posted. Sorry about that!Monster was sick most of last week - he had a fever for 3 days, and the proceeded to be a Mr. Grumpy-pants for the next few days. Whiny and clingy - which meant I barely got anything done unless I could do it while holding him. :( I think I was more miserable than him by the end of the weekend.

But, I'm happy to report that is he feeling MUCH better now! Last night he played on the floor with his toys while Ben & I watched a movie - something that could not have happened last week! He is back to being a crazy toddler.
Speaking of being a toddler - now that he's been walking for about a month and a half, he thinks he's ready to run! :) He doesn't get very far before he falls over, but he's right back up again and rarin' to go! He just learned 2 weeks ago how to stand up from the middle of the floor - instead of having to crawl over to a piece of furniture to pull himself up. Now he plants his hands on the floor, sticks his butt in the air, and somehow pushes himself into a standing position. It's so cute to watch!

He is also babbling like crazy - his current favorite phrase is "I dee". And it sounds like "Ey-deeeeeee!!" I don't know what it means - other than it seems to have replaced his "dadadada" phrase. So everything he points at now is "I-dee!" Sometimes it seems he's responding "I do" to a question. But other times, it's totally random. Oh well, whatever it means, it sure is cute to hear!

In other news... I am still pregnant. I'm now a little over 14 weeks. It seems crazy how fast it's flying by this time. I'm sure Monster has something do with that. I'm still debating with myself whether to be team yellow (meaning we will find out the gender at our 20-week ultrasound) or team green (we don't find out the gender, and it will be a surpise at the birth). There are so many pros & cons to both, I just can't decide yet! With Monster, we were team yellow. And I loved knowing beforehand, being able to call him by his name, decorate his room for him, etc. I've also always said that I could NEVER be team green. I'd just have to know, so I could plan & prepare, etc.

But now I'm thinking differently. I would love to give Ben the privilege of announcing "It's a ____" to me, and then to everyone in the waiting room. When labor seems like it will never end, or when I think the pain is too much, my motivation to push through (no pun intended, lol) would be finally finding out whether I have a son or a daughter. As for being prepared, this new baby won't have their own room, at least while we're living in this house (which we will be until the housing market turns around) so there'd be no decorating to do - Monster's room is a blue & green underwater theme. Definately geared toward boy, but it could totally be fine for a girl as well. We have all the baby gear we'll need, except for an infant carseat, a toddler bed for Monster to move into, and possibly a double stroller.

And if this baby is a boy - we've got all the clothes & diapers we need. If this baby is a girl - she can wear blue pajamas and sleepers for the first week of her life, we've got so many family and friends who will be buying dresses and pink clothes that we'll be covered for quite a while. :) The only thing is that if it's a girl, I'd just have to buy some new cloth diapers - pink & purple ones, flower, rainbows & hearts prints... so many endless options! Of course, a girl can wear all the blue, green, orange, yellow, red, and white diapers we currently own. I'd just have to add a few more to the stash to fulfill my cloth-diaper-buying love!

So there you have it - my biggest dilema at the moment. Our ultrasound is scheduled for June 28th.
Which is just over a month away. That's not a lot of time to decide! What would you choose if you were in my position? And why? Convince me!

I think I'd better shut up now- sorry it was soo incredibly long. I guess I had a lot to say! I will have to get better at udpating more often. Forgive me please! I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying your weeks!

Vote for my photo?!

Howdy... I just entered a photo into Single Dad Laughing's new photo contest - "Real Dads"

I'm hoping to win the grill for Ben for father's day.. would you be so kind as to go to the contest webpag e- http://www.danoah.com/p/photo-contest.html and right above all the photos there is a seach box, where you can search for an image... just type "Lochlan" in the search box, and it will bring up my photo! Then all you have to do is click the Like button.

That's all!

Thanks so much for your help!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Not really much of a point to this post.. but it's my birthday today! I got a paid day off today, and Monster's caregiver is out our house taking care of him like a normal workday, so I could be hunkered down in my favorite local Forza since 9am (it's now 1:15) working on stuff for VBS!

By the way... I'm the VBS director for my church this year. Did I mention that yet? LOL. It's gonna be a crazy busy spring & summer, but I know it will be worth it. :) I am feeling pretty accomplished today since I finished planning out the daily schedules - and I have finally pieced the whole puzzle together. Everybody has a place to be... and nobody is scheduled to be in 2 places at the same time, haha. ;) I also got an email out to everyone who had signed up to volunteer, to verify where they will be helping. It feels good to make progress!

Back to my birthday... I'm thinking I've done about all I really need to do in my peace & quiet today. I have a coupon for a free birthday ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins (YUM!) so I may head over there on my way home. Then after both Ben & I are home, we are going to my parents house tonight for dinner (wanna know a great bday present: not having to cook!) Even though I've been productive this morning, it has been relaxing - sipping my coffee, set up at the table with my laptop and my notebook and all the VBS stuff.... it's been nice. I hope to continue relaxing during the rest of the afternoon and evening! :D

Oh, and on a side note - I felt pretty loved when I signed into Facebook to see over 25 "Happy Birthday" comments on my wall... and the number has been growing all morning. I think I'm now up to something like 47. :) Facebook is good for something, lol. It tells people you haven't spoken to in 5 years that it's your birthday, and they stop by to wish you a happy one! I can't complain about that!

Hopefully all of my readers have a wonderful May 11th too!

The Story Behind Monster's Nickname

I recently had a follower ask me the story behind Monster being called Monster..... and I realized I've never explained it on my blog before! It's actually a pretty short explanation, but it's cute. So here you go!

When Ben & I first got married, we rescued a cat from the animal shelter as my wedding present. (Which was actually a big deal, because Ben doesn't like cats <3 ) He is cross-eyed and has 6 toes on each of his front paws - so we named him Bigfoot. ("Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, is purportedly an ape-like cryptid that inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America." Bigfoot on Wikipedia)

Bigfoot when we got him - crappy picture, but see his extra toe?!

In late 2008, we adopted a ball python, and sticking with our monster theme, we named her Basilisk. (You may be most familiar with a Basilisk from Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets, lol. It's "reputed to be king of serpents and said to have the power to cause death with a single glance" Basilisk on Wikipedia)

Basilisk & Bigfoot playing:

Then in 2009, we adopted a mastiff puppy and named her Nessie. Nessie is the nickname of the Lochness Monster, which we both think is pretty cool. ("The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands...The legendary monster has been affectionately referred to by the nickname Nessie since the 1950s." Nessie on Wikipedia)

Nessie & I - 8 weeks old, the day we got her.

Nessie & Ben - just under 1 year old:

So, there we were with 3 pets, all named after legendary monsters. When I became pregnant, and later found out that it was a boy - my brother in law made a comment to the effect of "You'll be adding another monster to your clan". And it stuck. From then on, my brother in law called my growing belly Monster, and after he was born, the nickname continued!

When I started blogging, I didn't want to use his real name online for security purposes, so the Monster nickname seemed to be the perfect solution!

He is still affectionately called Monster by that side of the family. And that nickname was even the reason for the theme of his 1st birthday party!

So there you have it - that's why I call him Monster! :)