thankful for my pizza waiter & eddie the monkey

Happy Post-Thanksgiving Everybody. This post has nothing to do with the holiday of Thanksgiving, but it has everything to do with me being thankful. We were in St. Louis for the turkey feast & while we were there, some hilarious things happened. First things first: we learned that Lincoln loves running around the house at full speed with a mesh laundry basket over his head. He thinks this is the best thing in the universe, & it was a good hour of entertainment for him (and for everyone else in the house). See for yourself:



Don't ask why.
Here's another fun tidbit. Lincoln made a very good friend this trip named Eddie the Monkey. Eddie usually lives on the Cissell's basement pole, with his long arms & legs wrapped around it...waiting for a hand, any hand... to give him life. Well, Ben gave Eddie life this trip. Ben's voice transformed into this somewhat obnoxious, gruff, old-man sound...and Eddie was born. Lincoln didn't seem to notice that Ben's mouth moved to all of Eddie's words; he just thought it was so cool that Eddie talked & could look around, & could ask Lincoln questions. Lincoln loved him to pieces...hugging him, laughing at him, asking him questions, patting him on the back, you name it. We had to put Eddie back on the basement pole, however, when Eddie, Mike (Ben's dad), and Chris (Ben's brother) started making obscene & inappropriate jokes. Back in your corner, Eddie.


We made a trip to the Magic House, which for those of you who don't know, is a huge monster of a facility that offers tons of learning activites for kids of all ages. Lincoln had a blast, while I thought my water was going to break. My feet were killing me & I felt like a huge blob waddling around. Aaah, pregnancy is fun. Here he is playing in the water:

going shopping at the grocery store...

checking out the produce...

making sure the eggs aren't cracked...


And here's my darling pizza waiter, working so hard at giving good & prompt service to the patrons:



Whew, that's heavy...

We had a wonderful time with our family over the break. I am thankful for my pizza boy & Eddie the Monkey because these two things brought smiles to me and my boys. And I am so thankful for smiles & laughs.
I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too.

I'll waddle back here soon.

old mcdonald had a farm...

Every night when we put Lincoln to bed, Ben & I stand over his crib & sing "Old McDonald". I doubt you have ever heard an "Old McDonald" rendition quite like we do it here at our house. Ben drummed professionally for 12 years. Imagine the innovative beats he puts to this old-fashioned rhyme & then imagine some random raps he incorporates into every verse. I almost pee my pants listening to Ben try to make the song all its own & brand new every single night. But you haven't heard the kicker. We have a rather chaotic bunch of animals/transportation vehicles on our farm. We leave the lyric "and on that farm he had a...." wide open so Lincoln can incorporate his own animals into the mix. Let me paint the picture for you. The Cissell Farm tonight included the following: helicopter, crocodile, baby goose, airplane, parrot, giraffe, & last but certainly not least, a shark. Wow, that's one tropical, swampish, airport-ish, & oceanic farm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

EeiEeiO

Information that I could've used 7 months ago...

Here's something to give you some comic relief today. Or if not comic relief, then maybe just pity. My OB informed me on Monday that she's retiring next month. Retiring. As in not practicing her medical field. Which her medical field involves extracting a living creature out of a human body. Which means that she won't be delivering my baby in February. When my face contorted into something that must have resembled horror, she proceeded to say, "We thought we told you months ago!" I pointed to my belly & said, "Um...should I state the obvious here?" Telling a pregnant girl that you can't deliver her baby?...what a novel idea. Seems like that little bit of smarts would be in the "Bedside Manner 101 Course". Maybe she was out sick that day.

So I left the office feeling unprepared, totally left out of the loop, & frankly...invisible. I got home & started doing research on doctors here in Franklin that could deliver me. Let's face it--driving to Baptist every 2 weeks now & pretty soon--driving there once a week, is not a trip to Disney. We live literally 2 minutes away from Williamson Medical Center & 30-40 minutes away from Baptist, so it would make much more sense to labor & deliver at WMC instead of downtown Nashville. I was successful in my search of a new OB, & more importantly, Ben & I had a guided tour yesterday of WMC's Labor/Delivery wing. We were super impressed. It's much nicer than Baptist (aesthetically), although certainly not the baby factory that Baptist is. I have been told that this results in more specialized care, more doting on your newborn, & nurses who have more concentration on their patients & pray over you before you deliver. After we left the hospital, Ben looked at me & said, "Why didn't we have Lincoln there?" So after little consideration or vacillation, our decision was made that Levi will be born at WMC.

To anyone trying to get pregnant or who may already be knocked up: You may want to ask your doctor beforehand if she still plans on being a doctor by the time you deliver.

talk to y'all soon.

the termite

Ben brought home a termite for Lincoln yesterday. For those of you who are not in the skateboarding loop, (really, who is besides 15-year olds? oh, and Ben) it is a skateboard specifically designed for toddlers. Hello ER. As soon as Lincoln saw it, he jumped up & down & said, "Lincoln's skateboard!" It was love at first sight. There was so much love going on that he has to have the board with him wherever he goes. Here he is while we were on our way to Target:

Here he is watching his TV show with of course, the termite:

He even had to have it with him while he got into the bath:

And then he had to have it with him on the couch before he went to bed:

Clearly, he loves his new skateboard...although standing on it is an entirely different subject. He only sits on it for now. Standing is another post altogether.
Night-Night.