P.S. He has a name now.

say hello to 

Ivan Tyler Wampler

the cutest baby born last Friday

The Newest Wampler

Hooray for the new baby!

Michael and Amanda had their first baby boy this morning at 8:33 a.m. Yay! They arrived at the hospital for an induction at 9:00 the night before. Everyone is doing well.

Mr. Baby Wampler weighed in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and measured 19.5 inches long. And he'll have a name soon enough. ;)

Good job, guys. Nicely done.

September Dump

It's no grand secret that I've been having a rough time in these few weeks since Ben was born...hopefully we'll get better sooner rather than later. So far, though, I've already missed quite a few nice posts that could have been had for the enjoyment of all. But, I never wrote them. Eh. We'll just put them all together now.

A while back Lisa and I took all our kids to Wheeler Farm...

Two weeks ago, we all went to This is the Place Park for L3's annual company picnic. They got to ride the horses, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

But they really LOVED the little playhouse village. We spent far more time there than anywhere else.

Maybe, just maybe, Megan enjoyed the watermelon more. She just wouldn't stop eating it...

We have missed Chris around our house lately. He's been quite busy with testing at work, in addition to which he's still been working on getting his car fixed. It's fixed now--head gaskets and new radiator successfully installed. Yay!! Thank you again, Lisa and Christian, for letting us borrow the Taurus.

Perhaps because we've missed it so much lately, I makes me extra happy when I can see my kids playing with their dad.

About a month ago, we took Ben to Primary Children's to have his hips x-rayed. Nothing to be concerned about, it's just a better-safe-than-sorry check because he was breech. I took this picture in the waiting room.

I've taken more pictures. I can't help it. He's my little man. I also think it's funny when he falls asleep in amusing positions and places. Like a bed that's about 100 times his size.

My kids are pretty cute together, too.

Good times.

Commemoration

It's often considered traditional to commemorate the honeymoon on major anniversaries--fifth, tenth, twentieth, etc. We decided to follow that tradition and return to our own honeymoon destination. Where was that?

Lagoon

Yes, that's where we went for our honeymoon, and that's where we went on Saturday. Thank you, Mom, for watching the girls and thank you, Amy, for keeping Ben for an entire day. You guys are awesome.

We were much more interested in riding the rides and flirting with each other than taking pictures, so I only have a few select shots to share. We happened to attend during Frightmares, so they had a few extra attractions set up...

Like fun house mirrors.

And...dead guys. Cool.

This isn't my most romantic picture collection ever, but I want to say that I LOVE MY HUSBAND. I feel very special to be married to him. We've made it five years--that's pretty darn good by society's standards nowadays. Here's to many, many, many more years. I'm betting on eternity, babe. Love you!

For Amanda

My sister-in-law's first baby is due today. She's tired of all the questions, comments, and sympathy that come with still being pregnant. Ladies, you can relate. It has put me in mind of just a few of the obnoxious things people said to me during the last few weeks of my pregnancies, along with how I wished I had responded. Don't worry, I never actually said any of these things. I just wanted to. Pregnancy does some ugly things...

#5

"Haven't you had that baby yet?"

"You're as fat as I am. Where's your baby?"

#4

"With that shirt on, you don't really look pregnant."

"With those pants on, you look really fat, too."

#3

"Rub the buddha!"

Just start rubbing their face. Then maybe they'll get the idea of personal boundaries.

#2

"Just hang in there. You're almost done."

"Shut up or I'll break your face."

Ok, really, I never had a good comeback to this one. But it drove me crazy when people said it.

And finally,

#1

"You're pregnant? 

You do know how that happens, right?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

How would you respond to that? 10,000 points to the person who gives me the best retort.

And yes, someone actually said that to me. A mother, even. Maybe it took her longer to figure out...

Dos ... ... how do you say months in spanish?

So much for a short and to-the-point post title that stated the bare facts while adding a little multilingual spice. Better luck next time.

3 Days

One Month

Two Months

We did better this time--smiling is better than screaming. Even though this outfit has a hint of prison escapee to it. But hey, no complaints on free clothes.

His face isn't quite as smiley in this one, but check out his leg. This kid is tall. He can already stretch past the end of his seat and he's only two months old. The infant carrier might not last as long this time around...

5 years later...

Happy Anniversary to us!

Sept. 21, 2006 - Sept. 21, 2011