Smoked

How do smoke detectors always know when it’s 1 a.m. on a Sunday morning?

And is it just me, or can you actually hear them laughing at you while you fumble around trying to change the battery at 1 a.m. because they KNOW they’re so user-unfriendly by covering the battery with something that doesn’t come off? Ours comes complete with instructions printed right on it - telling us to do stuff that it won’t actually do. Not even in the daylight, normal hours either.

Fortunately for us, we have air mattresses, a second bedroom, and a noise-machine. And a laid-back apartment on-call maintenance lady who didn’t seem overly concerned that we finally broke the thing ourselves to fix it.

The Weekend Skinny

Hasn’t happened in a while, but it was a busy week and weekend for us, so here’s an update:

Last week started off by receiving a package from my Grannie. (Warning: Girly gush approaching.) She sent us a pack of socks for 6-18 mo. olds that she had used as a pattern to tat little booties for Camille. So now the only clothes Camille has thus far are 6 pairs of socks and little lace booties. They are the sweetest things!

Michael had 3 full days of orientation for school that began Wednesday. He was out from 8:30 a.m. to close to 7 p.m. every day. Talk about brutal.

On Thursday night Emerson came in town for his monthly visit, which is always a blast. Poor guy was peeling from a bad sunburn he’d gotten the weekend before so he spent the whole time pulling skin from his shoulders, arms and back. And before I let anyone say eeeewww, first admit that you do it, too. Cuz I know you do.

Friday night we had our friends Crystal & Brian over for dinner and then Wyckoff came in town to crash with us, stopping by on his road trip from Connecticut to Florida. And since Crystal & Brian are part of the Nashville Saucer crowd, we all took Wyckoff to experience the Nashville Saucer after dinner. Good times.

On Saturday Michael gave Wyckoff a tour of Nashville – which means I got another tour of Nashville. I’m learning this town slowly. It was so great to get to see him! Anyone else want to visit, please do! And later that evening while watching a movie, Camille was bopping around and Michael got to feel her move!

Then on Sunday I asked Sharon (Michael’s sister) to help me shop for maternity clothes. It was a lot easier that I was anticipating. Of course, it helped that I had such great help from someone who’s been there, done that. Funny thing is, I think my maternity clothes are more trendy than my regular clothes. I haven’t been shopping in quite some time.

And Monday Michael started school! Verdict is: it went well. I really wanted to take a picture of his first day – backpack, lunchbox, new shirt - but I decided not to push it. He is always so patient with me when I’m amusing to only me.

Needles, Needles Everywhere

Mom once said that when you become pregnant and have a baby, you turn into a human pin-cushion. Fabulous. Some who know me know of my aversion to needles. Specifically of those needles being stuck in my body. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized there are some things for which I need to be an adult, and this is one of them. Not happy about, but mature towards.

The first time I had to have blood drawn for testing a couple years ago, I wanted to throw up, pass out, crawl out of my skin, and climb the walls – all at the same time. Weird feeling. I swear the blood dropped out of my body as soon as I saw that chair. And even though I sat there very quietly the whole time, and what I thought was calmly, the nurse kept telling me, “Honey, you need to relax.” All I could do was clench my teeth and think, “I’m not hitting you, AM I?!” I don’t think that would win me a Patient of the Year award.

So on our first OB appointment to really confirm that we were pregnant they took blood, which I expected. Michael stood behind me and waited for me to explode. But as I’ve had blood drawn more it has gotten easier, so I was okay.

For my appointment in September, though, I have to do a glucose test. For those haven’t done this one, I’m told it goes like this: they take blood from you first thing in the morning (no breakfast allowed, you have to be in a state of fasting). Then you have to drink an orange soda within the next ten minutes. Then at the end of an hour, they take blood again. You get stuck twice in an hour! It’s a 2-for-1 deal! I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I am. And I know this is only the beginning. Grrrrr.

Ah, well. I’m trying to look on the bright side: I do get an orange soda for my troubles.

Watch Out

You can see the pictures of me (below) at 3 months and then at 4 months pregnant. I’m huge, I know. Although, just this week I’ve started paper clipping my pants. I haven’t yet bought any larger-sized or maternity pants for work, and sitting all day in my regular pants with them fully buttoned is getting very uncomfortable.

We plan to take pictures every month to watch the growth of the belly. Even though I want to do these pictures, I feel really goofy posing for them. How can you not make a face for something like that?

I told Michael that when I get really big he’s not allowed to moo at me as I walk by. He told me,

“Baby, you won’t be as big as a cow. You’ll be as big as a house.” He then giggled and ran out of arm's reach. I set myself up for that one just by bringing it up first.

Mom added, “No beeping when you back up, either.”

Thank you.

The Name Game

When I called my brother to tell him that I was pregnant, one of the first things he asked was,

“So can I name the baby?”
“No.”
“I promise to give it a clever name.”
“No.”
“Notice I didn’t say a good name. I said clever.”
“No!”

Mom took a poll of some family and friends to see who could come up with the most clever name. Since my maiden name does not lend itself to catchy combinations, they’re having fun with my married name. Poor Michael has undoubtably heard them all, but it’s still new to me so it still can make me laugh.

The ones Mom has compiled so far are: Spring, April, July, June, Notta, Venture, Sally, Drew, Anne Soe, Ginger Lee, and Joy Springs. I’m sure it won’t stop there.

Then I called my brother again to tell him we were having a girl.

“Congratulations! You’re an aunt!” I said.
“Wow. The miracle of modern medicine.”

Introducing Camille Jael Forth

Tiffany & I went to the Women's Imaging Center at Vanderbilt this past Monday, August 7th. We had one of those fancy-schmancey ultrasounds done, and we found out that we are having a little girl!

My first thought was that we need to start saving for the eventual wedding now. My second thought was that I would now have two women who have me wrapped around their little fingers.

We decided on the name Camille Jael Forth. Camille was my sister's middle name, and Jael is a biblical name from Judges 4. (Look it up! Great story.)

Here are a few of the ultrasound pictures that they snapped for us.




And for those of you who want to know whether my beautiful wife is showing yet, here are two pictures that show the growth of the belly. The first was taken on July 6th, and the second was taken on August 8th. She's not showing too much, but previously she had a very flat stomach.




Please do continue to keep us in your prayers, specifically for the safety of mother & child. Thanks!

-Michael

Greetings from the Forth Clan

Greetings! Welcome to our family blog. We decided that it would be nice to start one of these for sharing family information with out family & friends. We hope you will check in regularly!

-Michael & Tiffany