girls v. boys

of course, we spent the last four days with family, blake and franz alike. we kicked off wednesday with rachel and dinner, then made our way over to the blakes to see jason and shannon and their two kids, landon and kelly. then thursday at the blakes, friday at the franzes and saturday was a mixture of both families.

there are two main differences between the two families: food and gender. the blakes eat because it's the holidays; the franzes have holidays to eat. and though there's different reasoning for eating, there are always dirty dishes.

a more subtle yet important difference is that the blakes grew up as three boys and one girl and the franzes grew up one boy and three girls. nevermind that people are now married and things have evened out a bit more, conversations still run in the true fashion of male-female communication.

for instance, last night at the blakes we spent about 30 minutes debating height among the boys: is paul taller than eric and is jason really 6'1? after much debate they decided to get out the tape measure and the level and mike blake measured each of his boys. tom had to be measured three times because he didn't believe he was really that much shorter than the other boys. and indeed the first measure was inaccurate, only showing that he's 5'11 and 1/2 instead of his true height of 5'11 and 3/4. rewind to saturday afternoon and the jewelry party that my sister rachel had while my dad and uncle watched football. a bunch of women came over to my mom's house and hung out talking about and trying on different necklaces, earrings and bracelets. the conversation ran along the lines of babies, mothers and clothes. and we're not even girly girls.

when we played poker at the franzes the girls dominated the mood: lots of laughter and talking about (and enjoying) old memories. meanwhile, when we play games at the blakes there's more debate about cheating and rules and when the boys reminisce there's more conflict about accuracy of story-telling than laughter about the fact that one of the boys actually pooped in the bathtub.

we'll see how wyatt adjusts to the holidays and his different families. certain things are a given: he'll keep eating like a champ and be a true competitor at most things. and maybe one day he'll be able to take on abbie when she pokes him in the eye.

is the death cab before or after the hearse?

i was telling luke today that his musical kindness is blog-worthy. for the last few months he's been generous in sharing his new and old music listening. the first cd was comedically titled "mix tape for another man's wife" and even though it's a cd, it's still a great mix. it reminds me of high school, when my guy friends would make me real mix tapes. blink 182, h20, spoon, frank black, cursive, all these bands joined together to make the background music to lunches in the atrium and late night swims before graduation.

just when i thought i had outgrown these silly compilations, here comes luke, the husband of one of my best friends, sharing music that i had forgotten existed. interpol, the killers, sufjen stevens, death cab for cutie. so thank god for friends with good music and the willingness to share that goodness. maybe one day i'll be able to figure out our burner and reciprocate the generosity. until then i'll just blog about it as a pathetic form of a thank you.

paternity leave

something about being self-employed is alluring. maybe it's the flexible hours, or working from home, i'm not sure. i am still technically employed by both abm, llc and kelly jackson photography. and what that means for me is: no maternity leave.

kelly is laid back about the whole thing, although i predict a minor, or possibly major, breakdown in the financial system. will the bills get paid or will they remain on my shelf awaiting my uncertain return? megan, please check those bills.

and since abm is a family company it means both dad and mom ask me if i've done the commission statements or the postcards for sunflower dayschool. the answer to both is no.

that's why i'm posting. my eyes are slits, wyatt is waking up and i'm supposed to be "crunching numbers." (my creative writing degree is oh so handy.) but i thought i'd let you all know, we're all doing great, working hard and yuma is keeping everyone in line.

and it's getting better all the time

there's nothing better than a sister who knows what she's talking about. except having two sisters who know what they're talking about. rachel lives in denver and runs a pre-school out of her home. she is the "girl" of the family, which isn't really saying much since none of us look good in pink or need to talk excessively about our days. but she knows how to look beautiful and she's kept me updated on good maternity fashion, sending me great skirts that i wish i could still wear.

and sarah, with her incredibly perfect 20 month-old daughter, remembers enough of her pregnancy, delivery and early life with abbie to keep me feeling like i know what i'm doing. with a style so laid back it's a wonder she runs her own business, she's helped me relax and just do what is natural with wyatt.

and then i have galadriel, my mother mentor/rock star/baby-delivering beauty. yesterday she gave birth to andrew grey, whom we mistakenly called "little greybear." when it was all said and done, he amazed all of us weighing in at 9 1/2 pounds. purely a thompson boy, as galadriel, with her uma thurman-like frame could never produce such a hefty offspring. without using a little miracle grow, that is. i guess that's what happens when the doctor pushes the date up at the sonogram but then conveniently moves it back the week you think you're due. that baby had nothing but time to kill and jalapeno chips and pepperoni to digest.

at one point i thought all i ever needed or wanted was my own immediate family. i even prayed for a small in-law family, underestimating god's gift for irony. and they are a great family, in both size and quality. but i've also realized that life gets even better when you go down this road with people who love you because they choose to love you. i ache to hold little andrew in my arms and kiss him like he's my own. congratulations thompsons. it doesn't get any better than this, does it...

happy thanksgiving

so if you haven't heard, he's here. little squealy wyatt decided he wanted thanksgiving dinner, too, so the floodgates opened and on friday november 4th at 1:18am he appeared. magically almost. i remember saying, "i can't do this" repeatedly and "this is ridiculous" once he was out. other than that, the pain of contractions and the frustration at the stalling tactics of my husband as well as my good friend and nurse kelly to get me an epidural stand out.

and then there's wyatt. having never done this before, it's all so fun and different. and he gets cuter every day. unfortunately the pictures don't do him justice. needless to say, eveything he does is amazing and cute and requires both of us to watch his every move. well, except when he's sleeping. which is a lot.

so thanks all friends and family for your prayers. it was god's grace that brought wyatt here safely, quickly and in good health. you are a blessing and we pray wyatt will be a blessing to you. family is good.