Tracey & Marin Victoriously Run for Hope

In a surprise upset in the most recent 5,000 m race on the Meridian Athletic Association circuit, Tracey Cronley (not pictured) finished first in her age group. Most shocking from last Saturday's strong performance was that Tracey ran whilst pushing Marin in her stroller.
The results are posted here.

Though no Turkey Trot plans have been discussed, she does plan to defend her title in the December 2nd Jingle Bell 5k.

Happy Autumn

It's been awhile since we've posted and it's been a LONG while since I have contributed to the blog personally (aside from being the butt of a few jokes concerning my huge loss at the neighborhood chili cook-off). Anyhow, I seem to have fallen behind in more than just my blogging and I'd like to say that I am sorry to all of the friends and family who are currently on my list of "must email ASAP" --- you know who you are --- you're the one's feeling neglected and I am sorry. My computer time each day has dwindled to almost no time at all, which in a lot of ways is quite good. I just need to get better at prioritizing the time that I do manage to find at the computer and actually email people before the baby starts wailing away.

We have enjoyed these last couple of weeks at home. Fall is officially here, but today was 85 degrees. We have had our "chilly" moments, however, so at least the trees are turning brilliant, beautiful colors.

Marin had her 4 month check up on Tuesday and she passed with flying colors! The doctor says she'll be moving and shaking and solving calculus problems in no time! Here are a couple of our most recent pictures. Marin is looking forward to seeing both Grandma Mac and Grandma Cronley and all of her Aunts, Uncles and Cousins who will be visiting in a couple of weeks for her Baptism and Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Carving

October is hands-down our favorite month. The colors of the leaves, the anticipation of the holidays, the constant football, and for us in Mississippi, the bearable temperatures! But October is leaving and Halloween is upon us. To help us get in the mood (since we've already eaten all of the candy we bought for the trick-or-treaters), we had an afternoon of carving up our front porch decor. Today we bought new pumpkins, since the one we had gotten a couple weeks ago, was already rotten.
So we chopped open the top, scraped out the goop and seads, and ever so carefully carved out our masterpieces. Below you see the lineup of all of the pumpkins, including the ones carved by our friends Rob, Leea and Angela. Then you get a close-up of Tracey's on the left and then mine on the right.
Our neighbor Craig offered his keen eye and sense of true art as he picked my "The Owl Swoops" as the overall winner. To be fair, Craig had a difficult time deciding which pumpkin was best which resulted in his hamburgers turning to hockey pucks in his absence.

Cronley Loses in Chili Cookoff

Despite bringing a cute baby giraffe to the competition, Tracey Cronley, formerly of San Diego, California, was unable to come home with the victory in the annual Linmoor Neighborhood Chili Cookoff. "This date was highlighted for weeks on my wall calendar posted in the laundry room," stated Cronley. Attempting to woo the judges with a rare sight at chili cookoffs, Cronley left the tomatoes in the refrigerator and concocted a delicious white chili. However, she finished the competition with her very first Chili Cookoff loss.
"Maybe if my own husband would have voted for my chili, I would have won," explained the young Rachel Ray in-training. Her husband was unavailable for comment as he spent the morning in the bathroom with a mysterious post chili cookoff sickness.
After finding out that the cookoff host was the winner, Cronley demanded a recount of the votes.

Anyone Else Want to Visit Us?

This is how I picked up our friends, the Roddy's, at the Jackson Airport on Thursday. Wearing a fishing hat, Burr Oak Tool & Gauge work shirt, and of course, the novelty teeth (or teef), I approached them and asked, "'re y'all the Minnesota folk?"
Also in attendance this weekend was our friend Adrienne Turner. We didn't do too much other than eat and play with the kiddies. It was a great weekend (it meant a lot to us that people took their vacation to Mississippi to visit us!) and a good "warm-up" for Thanksgiving.

A Little Visit to God's Country

Last weekend, we loaded up the Family Truckster and headed North to South Bend, Indiana for a wedding. The Dampeer and Steigner families' gathering coincided perfectly with my wistful desire to take a 3 month old child on a 4 day, 3 thousand mile trip to the Midwest.
We split up the mileage by stopping in St. Louis, MO while traveling both North and South. John, Suzanne and Clare put us up in their home and then traveled with us (different cars, the truckster isn't that big) to and from South Bend.
The weekend was a blur of activity. Friday included a extended Cronley family dinner of Macri's deli sandwiches (the Ol' Chicago was probably the best sandwich). Saturday, after the men (Joe, John and I) had our quick, hour and a half trip to Starbucks, we all toured the campus and loaded up on everything Notre Dame at the bookstore. It was cool and crisp, but when the wind blew, it was downright cold--and that's not the Mississippi in me talking.
The wedding and reception were perfect. Claire was striking and Mike was a very cool and confident groom. We ate, drank and danced until the band ran out of Lionel Richie hits for me to request.
After a short stop at the Dampeer home for breakfast it was time to begin the long trip home. A great trip but the travel was a little much. Marin made me promise that I would never again purchase extra spicy, jalapeno and cheddar potato chips for Tracey, which a half an hour later, Marin tasted. That was a nightmare.

The Squeaker

We've been busy with getting our house put together, trying to establish/maintain a routine schedule for Marin, watching (and re-watching thanks to TiVo) Notre Dame football games and attempting to catch some zzzzzz's every once in awhile. As you may or may not be able to tell from the photos, Marin has been VERY busy growing! Yesterday I was forced to pack up all of her 0-3 month clothes as she has outgrown them - right on schedule! It's hard to believe.

October is going to be a great month for us. It's always my favorite month of the year and this year we have a lot going on: a wedding in South Bend, IN, followed up by a weekend of fun with some of my favorite friends from KU here in Meridian, then it's Halloween and Marin already has her costume picked out. Now if only the weather here in MS would act like it's October. Today it is 95 degrees and the forecast calls for more of the same ALL WEEK! Too hot.

I'm sure you will all be thrilled to hear that Calvin has fully recovered from the hectic move and the near abandonment at the rest stop in Missouri (as a KU grad I really can't think of a more horrible fate). He's really living the good life here with us bleary eyed new parents. He's been the victor, on more than one occasion, of tricking us in to feeding him more than his usual allotment. This is how it plays out: I awake to a meowing cat and even though it's not quite time to feed him yet, I do, just to shut him up so he won't awaken Marin. Meanwhile, Tom is sound asleep and oblivious to all of this. 30 minutes later, I am now zonked out and Tom falls victim to the apparently starving Cal's meows and hence Cal gets fed twice -- his #1 goal in life. Thankfully, while we three stooges (Tom, Cal and myself) are stumbling through the wee hours of the mornings, Marin has continued to sleep soundly through the nights, consistently waking up at 730am. Yipee! Knock on wood.....

The pictures above are from last Saturday. Yes, we do let her wear the Roll Tide bow from Aunt Leea, just because it's so darn cute, but note the green bow too! Unfortunately Marin was not wearing any KU stuff last weekend and she should have been, but she was already sound asleep when that epic game was going down. Better luck this week, Jayhawks!

Babysitter Interviews

We had a visitor this past weekend. Aunt Sara made the quick trip from Birmingham to bring good luck to the first quarter of the Notre Dame vs. Purdue game. It worked! What we didn't tell her is that she was secretly being interviewed as a potential babysitter. As you can tell Marin enjoyed her presence and now it is only a matter of time.

Eight to Eight

I remeber when Tracey was about 3 months pregnant and I came home with a book entitled Twelve Hours by Twelve Weeks. Tracey laughed and I sort of felt stupid because here we were 6 months before the birth and all I care about is a decent night's rest. The book seemed a little far-fetched in my mind though only some of of it didn't work for us. We don't stay hard and fast to schedules or let her cry without coming to her aid, but it did give us something from which to deviate. And the results are in: Marin has slept two nights in a row from 8pm to 8am.
We are not sure if this will continue, but we are hopeful. She really seems like a baby who likes to sleep. Her worst days are not when she feeds poorly (these are rare), but when she doesn't get her morning or long afternoon nap.
It should be noted that Marin was awake (and having almost as bad a time as her dad) for the first part of the ND/MSU game. She finally fell asleep, ND finally woke up and despite my screaming at the television, Marin slept.

Game Day Photo

Go Irish!

Sanity Lost

Picking up from where we left off, we were living in San Diego, I had a job there, our newborn was 6 weeks old, Joe & Kelly were unwed, both cars showed no signs of aging, Calvin (the cat) trusted us, ND was going to beat GA Tech by at least a thousand points and it was cool and breezy. Times, they are 'a changin'.
Joe & Kelly's wedding was incredible. We (including Marin & Wendy) had a great time soaking in the high altitude sun and the crisp mornings--not to mention the accomodations, the reception and the wedding itself. Oh and it was nice to see you all...er, um...all of you.
Traveling across this country was somewhat of a daunting task given the fact Marin is so young and we'd be pulling a trailer. We also had the moms with us driving the little 2-door. It seemed like each day presented us with another round of tragedies and near-catastrophes. Though the car's reliability was always in question after the overheating in Las Vegas, it ran without issue for the trip. From Park City to Denver, most everything went smoothly. We realized that Marin was going to sleep most of the way (thankfully) and that despite the climb (just past Laramie, WY it is 8,600 ft in elevation), the SUV could handle the little Uhaul trailer.
The free wine in Denver was our downfall. Couple that with our 4am wakeup and I felt lucky to make it out of Colorado, let alone to Lawrence, KS. Despite getting to our destination pretty early (2:30pm), I was absolutely exhausted. Because the hotel didn't allow cats and sneaking Cal by the front desk is a too little tricky at the Eldridge, we boarded Cal at Catherine and Matt's apartment. After a dinner with the Thompsons which highlighted Matt's grilling know-how, Wendy stayed with them as well.
Wednesday was nuts. We did get to our next stop of Memphis, TN, but not without accidentally leaving Calvin at a rest stop. Not fun. Truthfully it was disasterous. But when we returned, there he was, patiently waiting (and trembling) underneath a car. Dinner with our friends, Amy & Nic Morrison, and then the final leg to Meridian.
Boy, was it ever nice to arrive at our new home. Rob and Leea Myers had all of our stuff in the house and now it is a matter of finding the right spot for everything. It has been non-stop since getting here, but I did manage to fit in a quick trip to Atlanta with Greg to see the Irish. The picture below shows my seats. I don't know why it is so blurry.
It's good to be back up blogging and I hope we haven't lost our readers!

Good Riddance, San Diego

It's true. We've moved. Or least we've done the first part of the move. We've left San Diego. Frankly, we needed to get out of that dump. I'd had enough of predictably beautiful weather on a daily basis. How about some variety? I'd like to run my air conditioning unit sometime in the summer and the heater in the winter! That commute along the bay and over the Coronado Bridge no longer does it for me. How am I supposed to get good at being a handy man? They don't let me do maintenance on the pool or even our own condo! And I would like to drive to the grocery store at some point; walking there makes me feel like a bum. And darn it, there are just too many options for dinner. I'd just like one restaurant so I don't have to think about it. I've had it with all these dinner decisions.
Thankfully our ship has come in (No! Not a boat!). One easy to spell savior has come for us, all together now: M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I.

Happy August

It's been a long time since I've made a post to the blog. In fact, you may not know this, but since my last post I had a baby, I've changed about 10,000 diapers and have enjoyed nightly 2am feedings. Well, now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that Boog/Tom has kept you all quite informed on these matters :) My little Blogger.
Anyhow, I wanted to share some more photos (because you haven't seen enough already!). These pictures are all nearly 2 weeks old, so just bear in mind that she has totally changed since then -- I mean, she's almost fitting in to her 0-3 month old stuff now, so you really probably wouldn't even recognize her. Kidding, of course. This first one is pictorial evidence of what Tom was mentioning in one of his previous posts -- this is where Marin ends up at the end of a long nap. Actually, sometimes it's worse, with her legs actually hanging over the edge of the bassinet. Silly!



The second one needs no explanation other than please don't feel sorry for Cal. He actually thinks he ended up with the better deal -- he'd take a cardboard box over a bouncy chair ANYDAY!



The last one is an important one -- it's a 4 generation shot with Marin, her mom (me), my mother, Wendy and my mother's mother, Elaine (from whom Marin got her middle name). How lucky we are to have all been together and hopefully we will have many more opportunities for such occasions.

John's ND Football Career

Before you wonder why, after 10 straight posts about the new baby, I have thrown a seemingly random Notre Dame football post in here, I'll try to justify my brief departure. Tivo has been recording old Notre Dame football games for me over the past few years and never have I seen anyone in the Cronley family at the game. That is until this video. So, here is the video that I've been trying to get out for a while.
In 1987, ND played Michigan State early in the season. Dad and Joe sat together next to the "Rocker" while John and I got the field level seats. Mom and Patty couldn't make it because they went to see Pope John Paul at the Silverdome the very same day. Mom said the Pope came out for mass and was wearing Michigan State green. That was it. Mom just knew ND was going to lose. Well, ND didn't lose. ND scored 2 seconds into the game and routed MSU 31-8. It was an historic game because of Tim Brown's 2 punt returns for touchdowns which vaulted him to the runaway selection as the Heisman Trophy winner for 1987. In the video, John (wearing a yellow shirt and green hat) celebrates in the endzone with the ND defensive line after they force a safety of Michigan State's quarterback. And, later you see John when the camera operator focuses on the crowd. If you look closely, you can see a very excited 10 year old in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click the link below.

ND vs. MSU 1987

Noticeable Progress

Marin has had a big week. Following her successful 2-week old appointment, we had probably her crankiest day so far. We got some advice and some sleep, and Marin has return to her "perfect angel" status. Almost.
There have been lots of funny stories, occurrences, noises and "movements" over the past couple of weeks. Here are a few:

• When Marin sneezes, she often finishes them with a huge high-pitched sigh. "Ahhhh"
  
• Often, during nap in her bassinet, she will slide from the very top of the mattress to the very bottom--bunching herself up in the last quarter of the whole bed.
  
• We're not sure if her mouth is too small for the pacifier or not, but we do know that watching her accept the plug and then launch it out of her mouth is hilarious.
  

• Her hair. Or more accurately, when other people see her hair..."Did one of you mousse Marin's hair?" has been asked more than once.
  
• The instant effect that the vacuum has upon her is comical. She can be alert, active, crying, mumbling, nursing, on the changing table...no matter what she is doing, if the vacuum is turned on, she is sleeping, right away.
  

Two Week Check-up, Two Days Early

Figuring that she was going to be a little ahead of schedule on everything in life, we decided to go in for Marin's 2-week check-up a couple days early. Truthfully, she has a little "Boo-boo" on her tongue and we wanted to get it checked up, so we tied one appointment to the other and hopefully saved ourselves an extra trip to the dreaded pediatrics wing of the Naval Medical Center.
All reports are good. The "boo-boo" was nothing but dried milk stuck in the crevices of her tongue. And Marin has regained her birth weight plus an addtional 7 oz. and now weighs a whopping 7 lbs. 8oz. (She's really puttin' on the "oz's"). Additionally, she is 1/2 in. longer and if she keeps up this current pace she will grow to be over 21 feet tall by the time she is twenty. We are obviously really excited about that.
I included this picture of Marin, Tracey and her brother, "Uncle Kevin" because it is my favorite one, to date, of Marin really wailing away and you can see the concern in Tracey's eyes. Despite what you see here, Marin has been sleeping well and she only cries when she needs one of the following things:

1. Food
2. A Diaper Change
3. Food
4. A Scenery Change
   
5. A blanket wrapped around her body

Truthfully, she is a relatively quiet baby (I have sooo much experience.) Her typical day is a series of 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hour time blocks in which she is changed, is fed, is entertained and finally is laid to rest for about an hour. Oh, what the heck, go ahead and add 2 or 3 more changings in there and at least twenty minutes of photography and video per time block.
The good news is that Marin is progressing, we're all having fun, and we're learning a lot.

Calvin's Condition

Hi everybody. Cal would like to thank each and everyone of you who has voiced concern over how he is holding up. We are happy to report that so far he seems to be coping well. He spends a bit more time sleeping on the top shelf of our closet, and he certainly makes WIDE loops around Marin when it's necessary for him to get around her, but he seems to still be himself. He feels a bit slighted that he no longer is permitted to sleep in our room, but he seems content sleeping in a little basket right outside our bedroom door and we always let him in to "supervise" the nightly feedings. Everyone else is doing well too! We just got back from Marin's first walk around the block in her bassinet stroller. It was fun, but it literally was one loop around our small city block -- I'm still too nervous! Baby steps. We hope all is well with everybody and thank you all for reading our silly blog and putting up with Boog/Tom's 7th child syndrome :)

Photos & Videos on the Blog!

Just a quick update on the way the Cronley Blog is going to be utilized. I've started a section (located on the right margin) called "Videos" from which you can find some recent video of Marin. You might wonder if any time of her life has not been recorded. Most of it has been recorded and can be viewed; the rest has been archived. Also, you can find the "Photo Slideshows" section where a link will take you to still photography. I hope you enjoy the new additions!

Marin Elaine Cronley

On Wednesday night, at 8:13, I watched as my wife gave birth to our little miracle who has been growing inside of Tracey since October of last year. And thus, the pregnancy is over and now we begin our time as The Cronley's: Three.
Statistically speaking, Marin has been right with the averages:

• 40 week, and 3 day pregnancy
  
• 7 lbs, 1 oz.
• 20 in long

But she is anything but average to us. She has amazed us with her focus and sweet smell. Her soft cry most often makes us giggle as we come to her aid. I can say unequivocally that her poop doesn't stink...yet. Most of all we are happy she is healthy and happy and so is her mom.

Thank you for all of the prayers and for tolerating the unanswered phone calls/text messages. They were not ignored...there is just a little delay right now. As our time becomes spent in other, prehaps more appropriate ways, I think that this log of our happenings remains important. Despite being so far from most of you, we feel very close. Thank you for keeping up with us and we hope everyone gets to meet our little Marin very soon.

PS Congrats to Catherine Thompson, Tracey's sister, for being the closest on the date, weight and length game. Kelly Brewer, Joe's fiancee, narrowly lost and was only 1 day off on her date guess.

Pronunciation

Rubies not Pearls

Well, I think we can officially say that this little one will be a July baby. Our apologies to all of the June guessers in the "win a cat" contest. She seems to be just a little too comfortable in my belly. In fact at our last fetal assessment appt. where they did a quick ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid levels, I could have sworn that I saw her reclined back with her arms folded behind her head and her feet crossed and propped up on my rib cage. Just kidding. All I could really see was that adorable Cronley nose. At least she has assumed the correct position. Let's hope that she doesn't try one of her Dad's tricks and flip around at the last second!
So, we really don't have any news to report from here just yet. We hope that everybody has a great 4th of July weekend! Safe travels to all of our family members making the trek to Mid-Forest Lodge. Have tons of fun and have some beers for us (at least for me -- Tom is still in de-tox from Joe's bachelor party)!
Happy 4th!!

Two Pictures that Must be Seen

On the right, that's me getting a solid dousing of water following my final flight in VS-33. Yes, that is the Hawaiian Jumpsuit. The Hawaiian jumpsuit that dad got while cruising the Hawaiian Islands with mom in 1976. I thought that it would be an appropriate outfit. Actually, I knew that it would be totally inappropriate, and therefore perfect!
My friends and I flew from San Diego along the coast of California to Santa Maria, had lunch and flew back. We had a great time, and it was a great day of "work." My favorite part was being asked, "Where did you get that outfit?"
"In Hawaii. In 1976."

And to the left is Tracey trying to explain to Calvin the current state of affairs. He has no clue what is going on, but he knows that his food is still being rationed and that he no longer has the biggest belly in the house.

Nothing to Report

Aside from increasing levels of insomnia (thanks to a growing and active baby who apparently enjoys squishing my bladder and colon - mostly at night) and rapid weight gaining, there is little else to update you all with. We had two doctor's appts. today. The first was the weekly fetal assessment where they measure the volume of my amniotic fluid (looks good!) and then they hook me up to a fetal monitor for about 20-30 minutes to see if I'm having any contractions. Honestly, I could listen to that little heartbeat all day long and never get tired of it, but I have to say that at this point it is quite depressing when the girl next to me, who's due date is two weeks after ours, is having massive contractions every four minutes (which she wasn't feeling......) and her machine is going crazy and meanwhile, my contraction monitor is steady as a rock and completely flatlined. To confirm the absolute lack of labor activity, we had our regular weekly check-up as well and this may be more info than you want, but the cervix is thick and closed. However, the doc did say that it is very soft (which apparently is the first step). I think he just added that last statement to prevent me from cursing ALL the way home :) Just kidding. She can stay in there a little bit longer, but I do have my limits!!
So, like I said -- not much to report. Oh, did I mention that Tom has his last flight as a Screwbird tomorrow and then on Friday we are closing on our house in Mississippi?!

Bye, Bye Screwbirds

Today is the ceremonial end of my squadron, VS-33. Forty-six years of Screwbirds met in the hangar on NAS North Island to listen to speeches and to celebrate the successes of the squadron. Tracey and I were pictured in front of the airplane that bears my name.
It was neat to see the squadronmates from many years back gather "family reunion style" to reminisce. I realize that, since both of my active duty squadrons now only exist in history books, sadly I will not be meeting up with my old buddies many years from now. Nonetheless, it was a nice ceremony and a fitting end to the squadron and to my days as a Screwbird.

Joe's Bachelor Party

What can you say about Joe's Bachelor Party Weekend? On one hand, it could be argued that it was a rather tame and gentlemenly gathering of friends. We played 36 holes of golf on Coronado Island. We drank wine. We attended Our Lady of the Rosary for Mass on Sunday. We toasted our friend/brother at a quaint dinner in San Diego's quiet Old Towne area. We even considered closing an evening with a rowdy game of Scrabble, but didn't. You could say that it was gentlemenly. You could say that.
It could also be argued that it was a knockdown-dragout beer-guzzling competition with everyone tying for last place. You could say that too. We got to meet one of The Finest City's Finest and at one point Joe's left cheek got to meet the sidewalk. Golf, Baseball & Beer; that's what I can report. You could say it was crazy, over-the-top and even obnoxious. You could say that.
For me, it was an accurate representation of the man to whom it was designed to pay tribute. The oldest brother whose been the shortest Cronley male for over 10 years. The submariner who loves to sail. A man who wouldn't touch a coffee in the morning, but would kill for a Buena Vista Irish Coffee. The snowboarder who takes care of peoples' financial future. He's an enigma wrapped in a conundrum. But I don't care about that. I know that he's fun to be with, loyal to a fault and everything you can hope for in a brother.
So what can I say about Joe's Bachelor party? Hopefully, John and I said something to Joe that we needed to say over many years: Thanks for being who you are.

Catherine & Matt's Wedding

After a nice long road trip and weekend in wine country for the wedding of Catherine and Matt Thompson, we are now safely back in San Diego with a still empty car seat (which we did bring along , just in case!) and one very rotund belly. The wedding was incredible! The day before the wedding, we were all freezing cold as the entire coast was totally fogged in, but somebody was looking out for us on Saturday as we had one of the most gorgeous days of blue skies and brilliant sun for the wedding. The bride was stunning and the entire day went off without a hitch! Here is one of my favorite photos of the day --- I took it right before my brother, Kevin, walked my sister down the aisle. You can just make out the famous arch rock in the background. Unfortunately, I managed to not get any still photos of the bride and groom together (sorry Matt!), but Tom did take some great video of the entire day which clearly shows the bride and groom glued to one another (too cute!). It was a wonderful celebration for our family and it was evident that everybody had a blast. Believe it or not, I was not the most pregnant person at the wedding. Bless her heart, my cousin Kimi and her husband Mike drove nearly 3 hours to be there --- on that day, she was already 5 days over-due!! She certainly showed me up and put me right in my place :) We're still awaiting word on whether or not that one glass of wine at the wedding got things "moving" for her. We were joking because of the about 70 guests in attendance, there were no less than 4 doctors and 4 nurses. One would have thought that we would feel comforted by that fact, however, the wine was really flowing that night and we're not sure if ANY of them would have actually been sober enough to deliver a baby. Luckily we didn't have to find out.
The 22 hours spent in the car were well worth it. We had a great time and we are so happy for the newlyweds. Thanks to my mom for hosting such a fabulous party and Congratulations to Cath and Matt!!

Go Padres!

The Latest

I'm back from all the crazy traveling and thankfully I didn't miss the whole show. No, not the American Idol Finale (or Finally, depending on your point of view), but the birth of the Little Lady. Birth Prep classes are in full swing, the nursery is as good as it is going to get (until the move), the car seat is installed, and despite all of this, each day I think of something else and it seems like we haven't even begun to prepare for her arrival!
I am so thankful that eventually there is a date where preparation turns into practice. Otherwise, I'm pretty certain that we would rearranged the household furniture 4 more times and I would have spent countless hours researching the latest must-have item until every square inch of the house is some shade of pastel. But alas, poopy diapers will be here and that will take the priority. Does it seem a little sadistic that somehow caca-pants are going to save us from driving ourselves insane?
I hope you enjoy the new photo. We figured it was time to update since we hadn't had a family photo since March and believe me things have changed. Calvin is the only one getting thinner and frankly, it's negligible. It looks like that threat to ship him off to the person who most accurately guessed the Little Lady's birth stats has paid off and caused a relatively insignificant weight-loss. Honestly, we have been a bit nervous about how he will react to another human in the household. When our friends have brought over their children, his first point order is to hide for the duration of their stay. There are signs that he is considering other options, however. He has been quite curious with all of the new "pink" products that are floating about our place and has been a lot more "lovey dovey" to Tracey when he's not biting her ankles.
I'm excited to be in this stage of the pregnancy and I know Tracey is as well. Although we have no control of when the next phase begins, I know we're ready. Oh, shoot. I just thought of something...maybe tomorrow.

Alone here with Cal.......

Well, I've been ditched again. Tom conveniently clogged up the kitchen garbage disposal last night (artichoke leaves were the culprit!) and then decided it was time to get out of town and head for the Midwest leaving his 8 months pregnant wife at home. Not very nice! Actually, I'm being a little too harsh. His departure is, of course, for a very good couple of causes. First he is flying one of his squadron's jets to Ohio for the wedding of a good pal from Notre Dame, Brad Billick. I'm sad to be missing the wedding, of course (Congrats to Brad and Tina!), but I'm very sad about missing an opportunity to see Tom with all of his ND friends - they are hilarious when they all get together! After the wedding, Tom is jumping back in the jet and heading to Chicago where he and a few other guys from the squadron will be doing the fly-over at the Cubs v. Whitesox game on Sunday afternoon!! So if you happen to tune in to the game on Sunday, keep your eyes peeled at the very beginning for a funny looking jet (pictured above) flying over the stadium - Tom will be flying it! I know the game is televised here at 11:00am (pst) on WGN. The fly-over should happen just minutes before the first pitch. So, I immediately had to go out and buy a onsie for the Little Lady that says in bold writing across the front: MY DAD'S A SUPER HERO. I think that's pretty fitting ;) even if I am pouting about being ditched (again).
I want to say a quick "hello!" to my old Nadadore friends who informed me that they've been secretly reading the blog --- it was so great to see you guys last weekend!! Everybody looks so great and I can't wait to be able to have a couple of beers with you all as soon as I'm allowed. We'll have to be careful not to ruin your taper for the Master's World Champs, though (wink wink).
I hope that everybody has a great weekend! The sun has finally decided to show it's face here in San Diego which certainly makes me happy.

This Phrase is the Last Coherent Thought of this Post

So it's back to Meridian for me this weekend. Tracey and long time friend/fellow KU swimmer extraordinaire, Adrienne Turner will be San Diego having as much fun as you can at 33 weeks pregnant. Adrienne is not pregnant; I think I just made a sentence with a misplaced modifier (see any 8th grade English text), but I'm tired of trying to fix it. Anyways, I have no idea what they'll be up to, but I am grateful that Ade will be here with Tracey in my absence. That's not to say that I wouldn't want to be here when Adrienne was here, just that I'm glad someone is here with Tracey whilst I'm not. This post is killing me today!
I'm going to check on how the house building is going and answer some questions about flooring, landscaping, countertops et cetera. Rob and Leea Myers, our future neighbors, have been flooding our inbox with pictures and everything seems to be going fabulously. We have painted walls, the cabinets are in place and the ground is level outside. There has been a lot of progress, but until I stick my hand into the siding, I won't really believe what I've seen or heard.
Call Tracey this weekend to say "Hi!"

My own mini boycott....

It's been a long time since I've blogged about the pregnancy and since I am currently about to pull my hair out over my job at this moment, I figured it might be a good time to stage my own little boycott from work for the next few minutes while I try to let the workplace frustrations roll off my back (or really my belly at this point!). So as you can tell, my job has been less than pleasant these past few months. The only good thing about it is that I have been relinquished of my travel duties for the duration of the pregnancy. Ironically, nobody on my project team will be traveling for the next month because we are currently playing "clean-up and catch-up" in house for the entire month of May. I don't mind the "clean-up" etc., but when the very root of the problem that caused the disaster in the first place is ignored, it kind of makes one wonder "what exactly is the point"? Hence my frustrations.
HOWEVER, when the work day is done (or during my little boycotts) I couldn't be happier! This pregnancy has been a dream - a long dream, but a good one :) We're almost to 32 weeks and things are going very well. Yes, the belly is really getting big and the discomfort and sleep issues have increased too, but really it hasn't been too bad yet. I did have to get up at 4:30am this morning for a bowl of cereal, but after about an hour and some serious acrobatics performed by the Little Lady, I was able to fall back asleep (Tom, unfortunately, was not able to - but that's ok, he's had more energy than a 5 year-old on Red Bull lately!). All in all, I have loved being pregnant and I know that this 9 month stint will be over before we know it and when that happens and the Little Lady is here, I know that the "halo effect" will certainly take over and I will only remember the very best parts of being pregnant (ie Fetal Hiccups and Pineapple cravings). So in attempt to be a realist, I would like to put in writing my three "major" complaints of pregnancy, so that 6 months from now, when we are riding the "new parent high" and thinking that we should just have another one right away, we can re-read this blog and maybe it will help us with our spacing at least a little. Here they are:

#1 The constant runny/bloody and super booger production factory that is my nose and has been since day 1 of pregnancy. My doctor says that this is the #1 complaint of his very "fair complected" patients. Yipee! So not only do us "albinos" get to suffer through severe sunburns and face certain melanoma sometime in our lives, but we also get this?! Who would ever want to be tan???Actually, this really isn't a big deal when I am at home, but poses some uncomfortable moments when caught in public (or worse, at a site for work) without a mound of Kleenex.

#2 Enough said. Actually, this one is really too gross to put on a blog. Yes, it has to do with "#2" but it's probably not what you're thinking.

#3 THE PRESSURE! (and this is not mental or psychological pressure that I'm talking about). This is not what Tom and I have been calling it either, but our name for it, once again, is really not appropriate for the blog. Anyhow, any woman who has ever been pregnant certainly knows what I'm talking about here. It started sporadically, early in the second trimester and has grown increasingly worse and more frequent but at this point is THANKFULLY not a constant and I am very grateful for that! Only 8 weeks to go!

So there you have them..... my pregnancy woes. Really, they are more laughable than anything and I certainly feel blessed for that. Hopefully they have provided you with some giggles as they have for Tom and me over the last 32 weeks.

Well, the boycott must come to an end now. I'm sure that my 20 minute absence has led to an absolute reform of my study project and that all internal flaws and "disasters" have been corrected. That's how things work in this country, right??

A John Candy Classic Weekend

There is nothing like getting a lot of response from a blog post to really make my day. Just when I start wondering if anyone reads this mindless drab, a short post turns in our best response of our existence! Cal has been proudly stating that all the hubbub has been made for the possibility of gaining his companionship and maybe he's right. How else could I explain the voter turnout? I suppose now would be the best time to let you know that Calvin is not going to be relinquished to the closest guesser. And yes, despite Kelly's best efforts (ask her about it...quite funny), all of Cal's kitty litter will be staying where it belongs...in our carpeting.
Truthfully we haven't been sitting back as the votes were tallied and ordered; all of that is done automatically anyways. We've been pretty busy. Tracey's attempts to get her company to lighten her workload has had a total reverse effect. Phones have been ringing right off the hook and the seemingly endless paper trail has been...well, endless.
I've been pretending to be busy too. Having grown tired of 3-day weekends (yeah, right), I decided that I would travel to Galveston, TX for the Spirit of Flight Airshow. My friend in the squadron Eric "Cooter" Gould is from Galveston and he was in desperate need of a pilot to fly down there with him. It was a great time despite the weather. We were treated like rock stars; a welcoming party was thrown for us on the night we arrived. And they all pretended to that the S-3 was the coolest airplane in the world. That was a nice touch. As it turned out, it was to be a true case of planes, trains and automobiles for me. Oh, and by the way, I'm "Snowball."