Taking after his Daddy already...

Since I've had 12 million ultrasounds I thought I would include a cartoon of one of the experiences we had:


He definately takes after his daddy! In fact, it really just means that he is offically a Tingey. They all watch massive quantities of television. I try to limit Andy already but his Tingey side comes out in him and he likes to watch himself some Yo Gabba Gabba! I can't really speak much though because I do have a few shows that I really have to see during the week. If I can wrench the remote away from my boys. ;) Now I'll have 3 boys trying to be in charge of the remote! Maybe we just need to get 3 television sets... or start a garden, or go to the park (probably a healthier choice.)

Matthew

This is my husband at work. Ok, techincally he works with collections now and doesn't do very many approvals for loans, he only has to approve the difficult loans, but this is the face he gets when he has to do that. Love you, Matthew. ;)

Still going strong.... TAWANDA!!!

Have you ever seen fried green tomatoes? I love the part where Kathy Bates gets empowered and proclaims "TAWANDA!!!"

Well, here I am 36 weeks pregnant today. I told myself that if I could get this baby to at least 35 1/2 weeks gestation (that's how long Andy made it) then I would consider this pregnancy a success. Guess what? My body is still hanging in there. My blood pressure was 110/72 today. Absolutely no signs of preeclampsia. However, my poor little uterus is carrying 3 times the amount of amniotic fluid that it should have to carry. It's like being at full term pregnancy for over a month!!! However, my body is still being a trooper and hasn't decided to go into preterm labor (yet) despite the terrible large burden.

So, I'm feeling quite proud of the success and have to say "TAWANDA!!!!!"

Can't wait to meet you little boy... my ribs will be delighted to collapse back into place and my internal organs will slip back to their rightful positions. I still want you to take your time getting here though. Don't rush into this world the way your older brother did.

Here's a picture of my poor little belly. Kind of gross, I know. Can you say B-I-G!!!???

My Little Bookworm

Ever since Andy was just a tiny baby (about 9-12 months) he has been captivated by books. He could look at a book for 20 minutes it seemed. While I was pregnant with him I tried to buy as many as I could get my hands on by going to the D.I. and garage sales. He has over a hundred books. Of course he has a few that are his favorites that we read over and over and over.


"Who is Coming to Our House?" This is a book about all the little animals in the manager waiting for baby Jesus to arrive. Andy likes to name all the animals and tell us what kind of sounds they make. His favorite is the owl. He can sit and hoot looking at that page for 5 minutes.

This book is called "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" but when Andy reads it to us he says "Chia BOOM BOOM!!!" While he's reading it to us he says "X coming, O coming!" because all the letters are going to meet at the top of the coconut tree, so they're all coming. At the end of the book there's too many letters in the coconut tree and they all fall down and Andy squeals "Chia BOOM BOOM!" He's really good at picking out about 12 letters. At the end of the book it shows all the letters and you can ask him where x, o, y, a, e etc. are.

"Ohhhh! This book is getting good!"

Peek a boo my little snuggle puppy!

His favorite part is at the end of this book because Mommy gives you a tickle. He knows it's coming the whole time too because he hides his face while I'm reading that page.

Lately, Andy has been climbing up onto "his" chair (he hates it when anyone else sits on the recliner) and reading himself stories out loud. He does it all by himself, we don't even have to be in the room. He grabs a couple of books and just reads away. For "Goodnight Moon" you can hear his little voice saying "Night moon... Night brush... Night socks... Night hush....." When he gets to the last page he proclaims "all done!" and gets started on the next book he has in the pile next to him.

I'm glad he turned out to be such a bookworm. His daddy is too (although he reads the same few books over and over like Andy.) I've been reading a lot more because of my pregnancy. I've been trying to take it easy lately. So, the Tingey household has been consuming a lot of books lately. It helps Andy with his language and it's actually something he wants to do, I'm so happy for that!

Eviction Notice

I once read this on one of my friends blogs. I really liked it. It would be a whole lot funnier if I weren't such a high risk pregnancy right now (it's a little too accurate) but I have to keep things light hearted right now.


EVICTION NOTICE
Date: May 29, 2010
To: Baby Tingey


To the above tenant in possession of below described premises: I am issuing 30 day notice for EVICTION. You will have 30 days in which you can either gather your belongings and promptly vacate the premises, or wait until the final day. After which, you will be physically removed from the property.

You are being evicted due to breech of contract and destruction of property. Expansions only to the FRONT of the house, within reasonable limits, were discussed. Not only have these limits been exceeded, but additions to the back of the house were also made! Remodeling and gutting of the home was never approved, nor was changing the initial layout and base structure. And due to property damage, there are now leaks in both the upper AND lower levels of the home. On top of which, the landlord has received numerous complaints about nightly disturbances.

After 30 days from this day that you don't comply with the notice will result in immediate and forceful removal at my discretion.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Love, Mommy

Never Ending Fears

Sometimes I think the fear will end. The all consuming worry I have as a mother will finally vanish and I will have true peace in the health and happiness of my children. I dream I will be fully satsified with the knowledge that everything is right for my children, their health, their happiness, their well being. And then life gives you a blow of reality. But what do you do? Become bitter or better? Trials strengthen us. Trials are tiring none the less. Sometimes I just want them to stop. I found a good quote from Paul Cardall's website that is summing up the good that I can take away from what I am feeling. What am I learning from my heartache as a mother? What can I take from this? What is God trying to tell me?

"Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.”

-Winston Churchill

I'm jealous of a rock...

Yesterday, Andy and I were up at Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon. He was excited about all the snow and trees and rocks. He LOVES swimming up there. I'll get pictures up later. Anyway, on the way home I asked Andy for a kiss and he said;

"Andy's NOT kissing Mamas! Andy's kissing rocks! MUAH!"

And then he proceeded to pass out several kisses to rocks. I sure felt special. I've been outloved by a rock. Funny little guy. Or as Andy would say "fuddy" little guy.

To see how much I love him read the below post. The feeling has not been reciprocated lately but there are a lot of happy rocks out there.

Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved. ~Erich Fromm

First moment I met my baby boy.

I wrote this letter to Andy 9 months ago. I never intended to put it on the blog, just to give it to him personally when he's grown up. However, I decided for Mother's Day I would post it since it is a reflection of my experience as a mother. It is pretty personal but I plan to get my blog printed into a book for our family so it has to be included. Happy Mother's Day to all!

My Dear Andrew,

Only God knows how much I love you, because I thank him every day for you. I don’t expect you to ever understand how much you mean to me. I suppose one day you may have children of your own and have a better understanding, but it’s not important that you completely understand it, just that you know it; I love you from the core of my heart.

There isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do for you to keep you safe from harm or to make sure you have a good life. Everything I do now is for you. Yet, in some way all the thanks should be given to you, Andrew. You have brought me blessings beyond counting. You have made my life so rich, so real, so sorrowful, so joyful, so alive.

I have trouble just finding the words to write this letter to you. The love I have for you is hard to define, the way I see you, the person that you are, it’s not something easy to define. I’ve never known a feeling closer to heaven than when I first held you after you were born. I felt myself floating up off of Earth and then quickly coming back down because I wanted to be down here to be your mother.

I need to share something with you my sweet Andrew. Life has it’s trials. We’ve seen a small preview of what life has in store for you. It fills my heart to the breaking point with sorrow. Son, I am so sorry this is something you must endure. I would take it for you in a heartbeat if I had that option. I hope you know that. God sees something very special in you. You are someone very special to him. He knows that you have enough strength to get through this. He chose you to be a heart warrior, to battle this all of your mortal life. He chose this for you not because he wants to see you hurt but because he loves you and he knows that ironically, you will receive immense blessings from this trial in your life. Please never forget that if God brings you to it, he will bring you through it.

With the sorrow of our mortal life comes the joy. You are my own personal definition of joy. You are the very personification of joy. You are very dear to me, Andrew. After having you, your father and I realized quickly that we couldn’t fathom an existence without you and you prompted us to be sealed in the temple. There would be no eternity for me without you in it. I need to tell you that even with all the sorrow I’ve experienced with your trials I know with my entire soul that the joy outweighs everything; Life is so worth it. Never give up. Never give up. Nothing can bring about a more brilliant rainbow than a rainstorm. I’ve known from the moment I set eyes on you that every moment of my life is a gift from God, even the hard moments. Every moment I have to spend with you as your mother makes everything else worth it. You will experience this satisfaction too, I believe. God wants to see you experience the joy in life and so do I, your smile is the most beautiful thing in the world to me.

I love you Andrew. I always have, from the moment I realized you were growing inside of me, and I always will, until the moment I take my last breath and even then I have eternity to love you. I will always be here for you. Please come to me when you are happy, sad, heartbroken or scared. Please let me be there for you and help you in any way I know how. Even in times when you chose to not to come to me for help, please know that I love you so deeply and would go to the ends of the earth for you. You are my baby and even when you are an old man you will be my baby. You are my everything and I love you. You are the sunshine in my life. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you to give you the best in life. I love you son, to the moon and back.

Forever yours,

Mom