Whats in a Name?

As most of you know, we have decided to name our soon-to-be son, LJ.

LJ stands for Lance Joseph. I have always loved the name Lance, but never wanted to deal with two Lances in one house. The whole "Junior/ Senior" thing is a bit confusing for a simpleton such as myself. Therefore, we would only refer to the boy-child as LJ.

It has grown on me and I love it. We have been referring to this obnoxious creature in my stomach as "LJ". I just can't wait to meet him.

New development: After watching Season 3 of "24", Lance and I both agree that we love the name Chase. When I said that I love it, I meant "I love it so much that I will refer the name to other friends who are having boys in the future." Apparently, Lance meant, "I love the name so much that in three weeks time, I want to name our son Chase."

I am not one of those people that can go into labor undecided. I need a decision now! Lance has asked me to survey friends and family and see if the name grows on me. Therefore, please be so kind as to sound off on our name options. Any thoughts and/or opinions are helpful.

To be of some assistance, I have included our only picture of LJ/Chase.

Priceless

Garanimals Pink Flowered T-shirt: $2.50
Garanimals Brown Skirt: $3.50
Pink Shoes: $7.50
Zoie feeling like a Princess on her first day of Preschool: Priceless

(I just love having kids small enough that I can supply them with all new [cute] school clothes for $25. Say what you will about the "evil, monopolizing conglomeration" that is Wal-mart. I love it.)

Today Zoie started preschool. She has been ready for this day for over a year now. She showed up in my bedroom before 7 am this morning-- completely clothed and hair done.

When I dropped her off in her classroom, she was so happy and excited to be around kids her age. She kept waving at me and yelling, "Bye Mom! Love you!" before I was even ready to leave.

Zoie will do well in school. She is very bright and a fast learner. She is friendly and social. She is funny and creative. She is extremely obedient. She loves social situations and has never had any trouble leaving me or Lance in order to play with others.

I know all of this. I have looked forward to the start of her preschool year because I know that she will thrive. So, I cannot justify the odd, wet substance emitting from my eyes when I turned to leave my daughter with a bunch of strangers.

I am not a cryer. I am not even terribly sentimental. I cut my kids' hair often without a second of wistfulness and I do not save a lock of said hair. I counted the days until they could go into the church nursery, then promptly shoved them through the door without a look back. Giving away the baby clothes that they outgrow does not make me sad. I am actually very happy to get rid of them.

So-- I did not anticipate the sudden outburst of emotion at the preschool this morning (and by outburst, I mean I wiped my eyes, ducked my head and got out of there). I am blaming this solely and squarely on the pregnancy hormones.

Here are a few more pictures from our "First Day of School" photo shoot. I kept trying to get Zoie to just smile like normal, but she informed me that she likes to pose. It is scary how much she gleans from my behavior. (The apple she is holding is her first "homework" assignment-- she has had it done for weeks). Enjoy!

Outdoor Fun

Brandon (where we live) has some really great parks and my kids love playing at the park. I have always seen this strictly as a winter activity, due to the horrendous Florida heat and humidity.

The other day, my kids were begging me to stop at a local park. It is almost completely enclosed with huge trees-- blocking out the sun, so I thought we'd give it a try.
It was surprisingly pleasant. Well, at least relatively pleasant. I am sad that I only discovered this little gem of a park towards the end of summer. I can't wait for winter so we can resume weekly (sometimes daily) park play and also make better use of our backyard playground.

In the meantime, we can't get enough of this:
We went with some friends for a beach play date yesterday. The kids were awesome and they loved it.Sadly, it was most likely the last "Beach Hoorah" of 2009-- as I seem to have exceeded the maximum capacity for even the largest of maternity swimsuits. Well, that and Zoie is starting preschool next week and I am having a baby in 4 weeks. But mostly the swimsuit thing....

REALLY Showing

One month ago today, I wrote a post about the sheer joy and delight that is pregnancy (see "Showing"- July 16, 2009).

At that time I came across an email I had sent out whilst 8 1/2 months pregnant with Zoie-- circa January 2005. I scoffed at the petty complaints found in the email. I applauded myself for being so far above whining about the seemingly mild discomforts of "growing life".

I re-read that same email this morning; re-read it with my chubby, puffy fingers pounding on the laptop keyboard-- missing every other keystroke due to the sheer size of each giant fat finger. I perused the email with swollen eyes that haven't ascertained a decent night's sleep all week, due to my overgrown belly and, apparently, tiny bladder.

This time around, I very much related to my 2005 pregnant self.

Here is the email for your enjoyment:
January 19, 2005
Dear Friends and Family-

I am grateful that I have had a healthy pregnancy-and that I was able to
get pregnant in the first place.

Having said that-

I woke up this morning with sore hips because I am unable to sleep on my
back or stomach and my 1700 lb. body is too much for my hips to hold up
while sleeping. Luckily, I gave them a break by going to the bathroom 6
times last night.

Speaking of my exceedingly large body, when I sat down at work this
morning, I tore my underwear. I have to give it credit for trying so hard
to keep up with my ever- expanding booty. It made a valiant effort, but
this morning it decided that enough is enough.

I spent almost a half an hour on my make-up this morning attempting (in
vain) to cover up my overly blemished skin. I have worn more cover-up in
the last few months than in my entire life put together. (Including the
phase I went through in seventh grade where I could have passed for a
geisha!)

I have incurable heartburn, which is creating conflict with my constant
overwhelming desire for M &M's and buffalo wings.

My maternity clothes that looked and felt so cute in my 6th and 7th month
of pregnancy, now strain to cover my belly. My wardrobe has been reduced
to two shirts, one skirt, and one ill-fitting pair of pants. The
aforementioned garments are all stained and worn- out from being my only
wearable clothes.

I hate to have such a negative attitude. I am sure that this is all worth
it. But today, I am so over being pregnant. For my next one, I will
somehow arrange to only be pregnant for 8 ½ months.


Hopefully, my next letter will be announcing the arrival of my long-
overdue child. Until then, I will sign off as

Miserable and Impatient-

Kira

While I am not quite in that same place right now-- I can see myself getting there... quickly. Five weeks left!

Tobin Van Winkle

Tobin is our sleeper. He takes his rest very seriously and often we find that he has put himself to bed if we are few minutes late getting to it. He takes a 2pm nap daily and by 2:15 pm, he is asleep no matter where he is-- car, stroller, etc. It is a trait that I, as his mother, dearly appreciate and it makes for some great photo ops.

I picked through some pictures from the past few months and have shared some of my favorite "Sleepy Tobin" photos.

True Floridians

I am eight months pregnant... hot... puffy... melting in the midst of a hotter-than-average Florida summer. Some days are interminable. I have spent a fair amount of time complaining about the heat and humidity. I just read this on my best friend's blog and immediately felt guilty.

This rang so true that I had no choice but to blatantly rip off her post and put it on my own blog:
Got to Love Florida!

You Know You're a Floridian if...

• Socks are only for bowling.
• You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes.
• A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.
• You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.
• Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.
• You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.
  
• You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.
• You dread love bug season.
• You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley, Frances, Ivan...
• You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.
• You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.
• "Down South" means Key West.
• Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.
• You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
• You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.
• A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
• You know the four seasons really are: Hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.
• You've hosted a hurricane party.
• You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Thonotosassa and Micanopy.
• You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.
• You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.
• You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Year's.
• You recognize Miami-Dade as "Northern Cuba".

We are the Rasmussens... and this is the longest anniversary of our lives

(The Title of this post is an allusion to 24-- not a complaint)

This is what Lance and I were doing eight years ago today:Our past wedding anniversaries, we have celebrated in a variety of ways. Some include:

Snorkeling in the Bahamas
Weekend getaway in Orlando
Early morning mountain hike
A romantic dinner for two at nice restaurants

So how did we commemorate our union in 2009?

An all day and night marathon. We have never seen it. It has totally loved up to its hype. We watched the first season and a half over the weekend. (Thanks to a friend for taking our kids).

So as Lance and I (both pajama-clad) look at each other over our individual tubs of Ben & Jerry's during our 5th consecutive hour of 24, and ask, "are we losers?"

The answer is no... well maybe for other reasons. But this is how I see it: Its easy to have fun while doing something adventurous or glamorous. But it is when you can have an absolutely amazing time while sitting in pajamas watching television and eating ice cream that you know you have found the love of your life.

Flashback

I came across these pictures today. Two of my friends and I all had babies in the first few months of 2007-- we all had BIG babies in the first few months of 2007.

These pictures were taken one night in July 2007 when I was babysitting the babies. It was one of those times when I could have become overwhelmed with three crying babies, but instead decided that a photo shoot was the solution.

Tobin is the youngest of the three and the one in the middle...