Raleigh and his trains

When my parents visited this last weekend to see Leah for the first time, they also brought with them a great present for Raleigh. It takes up a bunch of his room, but it is so worth it. He loves it and is constantly playing with his train table and his new trains.

He also took the time to introduce his "Gordon" train to Leah when she was getting belly time the other day.

Leah's 1st Bath

Leah got her first bath today. She didn't care for it too much, but she didn't fuss as much as Raleigh did for his first bath.



Raleigh sat close to Leah again today. He was enticed by Wall-E the movie though.

What a good big brother!

This morning, Raleigh said "Hold Leah?" Which suprised us all because he has shown little or no interest in her since she was born.

So we asked him if that was, in fact, what he wanted. He said yes and he sat in the chair so that we could place Leah in his lap on top of a boppy pillow wrapped around his little waist. And adorable-ness ensued.

Look at her hair!

Look at her head of hair! And yes, there is some red in it.

Grandpa Dave holding Raleigh and Leah.

Meet Leah Lynn

Leah Lynn Thompson

Weight: 7 lbs 6.3 oz

Length: 19.1 inches

Birth time: 6:32 am January 8th, 2009

Guess who's in labor?

Yup, me.

My water broke at 4:30 pm and I'm still hanging out in the hospital room with contractions 5 minutes apart and not so very painful just yet. Just uncomfortable.

The last time they checked, I was dilated 3 cm and 70 % effaced.

We'll keep you posted as soon as the baby is born. We are so very excited to meet him/her.

Some fun in the snow

Yesterday when I got home from work and almost opened our house door, I saw Raleigh standing inside dressed in all his snow gear ready to come out and play. I set my purse inside, and helped Raleigh through the snow in our back yard while Josh got the camera.

It just wasn't a moment that we could miss getting on camera.

Above: Following in Dad's footsteps

Below: Making his own way

Above: Nose Dive!

Below: "Look how I landed when Dad threw me in the snow!"

Above: "No, mom's not extra bundled, that's an almost fully cooked baby under that huge maternity coat"

Below: "I can't get back up!"

Raleigh is funnny

Funny things that Raleigh says or does:

When we ask him to pick something up: He reaches half way down and then says "I can't reach it" with a strained look on his face.

After we sneeze: He pretends to sneeze and says "Skimseee", which is supposed to be "Excuse Me"

When referring to his "troublesome trucks": He says "Trum Truck"

Instead of saying "yah", he says "Yes" and he extra-enunciates the "s".

He says "Help you" instead of "Help me"

We have a really tall friend, named Luke. So whenever we are out and about and Raleigh sees a tall man, he says "Leuuuuuke!". He used to call him "Luck"

And every now and then, Raleigh will just break into song:

He'll say "Trust meeeeee." for the song that Kah the snake sings in The Jungle Book.

He'll sing "Jingle bells" without saying "Jingle all the way", so he really just repeats "Jingle bells" over and over.

And he is such a mimicker. He mimics people laughing all the time. We were at a restaurant yesterday and he started saying "ah ah ah" whenever the lady in the booth next to us broke out in laughter. I don't think she noticed because she was so into her conversation.

He mimicks Diesel 10's voice, which is low and scratchy and then he says "Come on Mommy... Deeessseel ten"

A flash of Christmas

Christmas was great this year, except I didn't get to see my side of the family due to my ever expanding belly.

Here's Raleigh wearing one of his Christmas presents. There is nothing like a Thomas the Train poncho after a bath. And this is a really good picture of Raleigh smiling. Of course, Josh told him to smile big.

Below is a picture of the Christmas ham that I made at home in my dutch oven. It turned out delicious, although next time I think I'll make the pineapple/brown sugar glaze a bit thicker.

The Saturday after Christmas, we all gathered at Erika and Joel's house for present giving, yummy baked potatoes and cookies, and good old family bonding. Raleigh is riding his present from Steve and Deb. It is a stationary bike that hooks up to the TV. When Raleigh moves the pedals, the train on the TV moves.

Here I am holding up a pair of hand-knitted socks that Deb made for me. They are super comfy and come in handy in our cold cold house.

Raleigh just opened another present. It's a Thomas the Tank engine train game for his stationary bike.

Here's sort of a group picture. Erika was Santa handing out all of the presents.

It's nice getting together over at Erika and Joel's house. It is bigger than our house and we don't have to clean up our house for visitors :) Currently, we are way motivated to get our house projects done so that we can list our house for sale this summer. We'll see how motivated we can remain after the baby is born.

Belly Watch: 37 Weeks Along

Not too much longer to go. My due date is Jan. 18th. Which means about 2 and half weeks left.

We've picked out a boys name and a girls name, so there are no worries there. I'm planning to pack a bag for the hospital this weekend. I have my next Dr. appointment on Thursday of next week. He'll check my cervix at that point. Hopefully, it will show some progress.

I saw a Physician's Assistant yesterday as my normal doc was away on holiday. The PA didn't seem to think that the baby was engaged yet. She said it didn't feel hard enough down toward my pelivic region to indicate that the baby had lowered itself, although both Josh and my mother-in-law thought that I looked like I had dropped somewhat. I don't think I have dropped.

I've been battling a few different bugs this week, not sure why they all hit at once, but I'm finally starting to feel better.

And for those who are wondering, I will not mind hospital visits just not when I'm in labor. After the baby is born, feel free to visit. I plan to have the baby in the room with me the whole time, so don't think you can just sneak in to see the baby in the nursery :)