Look-y here!

My new favorite purchase for Baby England... why, Union Jack babylegs, of course! You know if I could have found them with the Irish flag or shamrocks then I would have snatched those up too. As it stands, this child already has plenty of "Kiss me,I'm Irish" gear so the O'Connor/McDonald/Durnin blood will be well represented. I can't wait for this little dumplin' to get here so I can kiss that sweet little nose and nibble those little baby toes!

at long last...

We have begun working on the nursery! We've moved our cable for internet as well as Ben's desk out of the baby's room and into the front room. There is much to move/ throw out but I'm feeling very confident that things will be moving much more quickly over the next two weeks!

Family Medicine Graduation

(My redeye photo editor gave Ben the crazy eyes... Sorry!)

Dear Baby,

           Last night I watched your handsome, wonderful daddy complete his formal training in family medicine.  Your dear father worked very VERY hard for 23+ years of formal education to get to the podium last night. It took lots of sacrifice, not only from him but from his amazingly supportive and loving family (which happens to be yours and mine too, now, and yes, we are quite lucky). He made everyone at our table very proud last night. He EVEN won the Dr. Moon award. The Dr. Moon Award goes to the graduating resident that most exemplifies what it means to be a family physician. The presenter said that your daddy was a very smart, very good physician that genuinely cares about his patients and their families and giving them the best care. They said he had an "Amazing" bedside manner... and Baby, do you know that your daddy is so humble that he said he didn't deserve it? That daddy of yours is something else. 

             Baby, if you grow up to be even half as spectacular as your daddy then you will be at least twice as spectacular as nearly everyone else I've ever met. I hope you get more than just that ol' daddy's nose. I hope you get his super-smart brain, his work ethic, his great big loving and humble heart and maybe his dimple... I also hope that you always know how much I love your daddy without even having to be told about it. I love you, too, sweet kicky baby. You are, by far, the coolest miracle I've ever been blessed to be a part of. 

love,

your mama.

I should have stayed in bed today...

Our sweet boxer baby, Georgia, is brave when it comes to big scary strangers and monsters that go bump in the night but when it comes to thunder and lightening, well, she falls all to pieces. She has woken up Ben and I with whining and nudging and whimpering every other night for the past week whenever the thunder starts. We've tried benadryl and blankies and snuggling to no avail. She woke us up at 4:00 am this morning shaking like a big furry leaf... and I should have known then that staying in bed  would have been the best plan of action.

Since I got up extra early this morning thanks to my nervous puppy alarm clock/weather warning, I decided to get ready and head out to hardee's to treat baby England to an egg biscuit and orange juice. Did it go smoothly? Oh no. I busted a big fat flat tire pulling into the  hardee's parking lot. Called ye olde hubsy wubsy to bring me some clean scrubs (because I'm a brave and independent woman and was fully intent on changing that flat ON MY OWN) but darling hubs was nowhere to be found and I couldn't get the tire out of the trunk... A nice gentleman that pulled in next to me kindly pointed out that my spare was flat so... I called a tow truck and 45 minutes later help arrived and husband was still unreachable... 

Friendly Mr. Tow Truck man helped me into the cab of the big tow truck and loaded my little red beetle on the back (It is admittedly somewhat amusing to watch regular sized men try to maneuver in and out of my drivers seat without moving the seat back). He dropped me off at work and toted the love bug off to get new shoes. Hubs was still not heard from. I was starting to get nervous. 

Then I started to panic. 

Then I became convinced that my darling husband must have passed out in the shower and was drowning.

Then I was certain that he had choked on his cereal and the dogs were unable to give dear Ben the Heimlich maneuver and I would find my blue faced husband dead in the kitchen and be forced to raise this wild kicky baby all on my own. 

So what did I do? I called and paged and texted and emailed AGAIN. Then I called the graduate school of Medicine. Then I called the UT dermatology clinic. No one had seen or heard from Ben. I also sent URGENT text messages to Ben's brother, Kip, and my peach of a mother-in-law (who knew exactly how I felt). Let me just say that if there were a "Worry Olympics" that Cindy and I would be stars on the US team. Likely gold medal winners. 

Finally, I called in the big guns... Cousin Caroline. The reigning queen of South Knoxville. I begged her to pull a drive-by and see if Ben's truck was still there. Being that she's a complete angel that would give the shirt off her back to help out a stranger, she was more than agreeable.

When she drove by, his truck was there!!! She found Ben... Very much alive and obliviously puttering around the house. My gratitude was overflowing. Ben had no idea how  much peril he truly was in.

The good news is that NOW the car is happy, foot loose and flat-tire free, Georgia is calm and happy and brave (until the thunder starts again) and my sweet, beautiful kicky baby has a daddy that is alive and well and treated us both to a big juicy litton burger for dinner. 

Thanks be to God!!!

So we took a little blogging nap...

We're back online now, though. Much has happened since we last checked in with ye olde blogspot. Ben dug up our back yard and started to build a patio. Ben had shoulder surgery( more on that WITH pics later). Ben's brothers and dad spent many long hot hours finishing patio (Thanks Englands! It's nice not twisting my ankle on the way to the laundry shed PLUS it looks AMAZING! )... I'm here growing a giant baby that kicks me to pieces. My stomach is HUGE ! Oh yeah, and we also had a 3d ultrasound. I'm accepting that while I'm doing all the heavy lifting in re: to this pregnancy this kid looks WAY more like Ben than me (Not fair in the least) which is why I'm guessing now that it's a boy. I'm still hoping against hope for a girl. I don't want to hear it from anyone, though. It's best not to bring it up with me or else hormones get the best and I'm a huge puddle of tears. Seriously. Don't bring it up. I am so grateful that this baby is healthy and at this point I'm just praying for a safe delivery, an effective epidural and a cheerful baby. 

That's the news from the McEnglands ! Happy Fathers Day!

The McEngland intrauterine swim team...

Starring Baby McAwesomepants England as the star swimmer has officially had it's first big practice. I'm guessing she's in there working on her flip turns because I have been feeling kicks and flips EVERYWHERE all afternoon. I'm not gonna lie, though, it's been pretty great and exciting... and I sure am proud!

 Oh yeah! Today marks week 18 so I guess that she can vote in her fetus elections and sign up for the fetus draft. Oh, this post is just getting more and more weird so  I probably should end it here. 

Love,

Katy England

...sorry for the hiatus...

Ok, So I'm trying to hop back on the blogwagon... As I'm sure you know, the McEnglands are growing a brand new baby McAwesomepants. Baby McEngland is due September 23rd, 2009. This is 2 weeks after our first wedding anniversary. It's been a pretty big year.

SO I guess I'll post answers (some of them a little snarky) to questions I've been getting pretty frequently (as in daily). I bet you can guess the questions so I'll leave those out...

#1. I am feeling great. Yes, I had horrible morning sickness and I threw up my toenails at night on a regular basis. I'm over that for the most part but I've got heartburn that could start a 4 alarm fire. 

#2. I'll be 18 weeks this Wednesday... Yes, It's almost half way there... 4 and a half months. Pregnancy is 10 lunar months. 

#3. No, we don't know what we are having. 

#4.We can find out at the next appointment but we are going to wait until Baby McAwesomepants gets here. 

#5. I feel in  my heart of hearts that it's a girl. Yes, Kip, I know Tom England didn't make girls and neither did Seth on his first attempt at fatherhood.  J.D. McDonald never sired girls (and he had 4 boys)... But guess who had 4 granddaughters? J.D. McDonald. 

#6. We have GREAT, well thought-out names picked out. We aren't telling because we don't want them stolen nor do we want people to try to talk us out of them. 

#7. Our baby was definitely the happiest surprise God ever planned for us up to this point. So yes, technically, this pregnancy was planned. 

#8. I am showing but not very well in scrubs. I lost 4 lbs the first trimester and I have only gained back 2 and a half. 

#9. I have been feeling her move and kick. It feels like a soft little poke and it happens several times a day now. Ben can't feel it from the outside yet but I'm betting it won't be long! 

#10. Yes, my darling husband is THRILLED!

#11. I'm sorry, my car is not for sale. I am determined to find a way to put a carseat in the back of the beetle. 

#12. The dogs are going to LOVE the baby. Pugs and Boxers are both breeds known to be EXCEPTIONALLY awesome with new little humans. 

#13. No, the nursery is nowhere close to even being started... 

Sorry it took so long! I hope everyone is doing well!

love,

Katy and Ben and Stella and Georgia and Iggy and Sweet Baby McAwesomepants England.