What will baby Pohl be made of?

For over a week, Tom and I have kept the secret of Baby Pohl's gender so we could make the big announcement at Thanksgiving while family was gathered together. So now that the cat is out of the bag, can you guess?

Frogs and snails, and puppy-dogs' tails, that is what little boys are made of...

It's a BOY! Not a huge shock when you understand the trend on my mom's side of the family to have only boys. Every single one of my 5 cousins who have had kids (7 between them) have had only boys. My sister, 2 boys; my other sister, 2 boys. I am excited Patrick will have a brother, a best friend to always buddy around with.

Baby seems healthy and on track, something to most certainly be thankful for yesterday and each day. No, we don't have a name yet, but even when we decide, it will be a closely guarded secret.

Weekend Recap

Exhausted. Tom and I spent all weekend completing projects - some of which were never on the "to-do" list, but somehow took priority (like rebuilding a portion of the stone wall along our driveway). One big one completed was the installation of my new chandelier. I have ALWAYS wanted a crystal chandelier in my dining room, and now I have one thanks to my handy husband who put it up himself. I love it and I think even Tom is admitting it looks great in the space.

So we say goodbye to this chandelier (which is actually now hanging from the big gaping hole that had been in our kitchen's eat-in area)...

and introduce this beautiful girl

Patrick enjoyed the lunchtime entertainment as he watched his dad work. We are working on getting the ketchup IN his mouth.

Ahh...can't wait for Thanksgiving (and the formal dining room set that will one day replace my set)

And in the stealth of darkness, armed with nothing but a flashlight, Tom finished building our firewood holder out back.

Boys Will Be Boys

Where has Saturday gone? We spent the day hard at work both inside and out getting ready for the big Thanksgiving Day feast we are hosting. Three out of my four siblings will be here, and we'll have some out of town guests staying at our house this whole next week.

Tom's crowning achievment? His peg board which he custom fitted to the bay window bumpout in the basement. Oh, Patrick helped a little.

And although we have 10,00 things to accomplish between today and tomorrow, you can't blame a guy for wanting to start organizing his tools right away.

After all, the lawn is leaf free and freshly cut...

...and those two chores entertained Patrick for at least 30 minutes as he stood at the back window watching his dad.

But the day wouldn't be complete without Patrick learning something new, and that something happens to be how to operate the water dispenser on the fridge. Thank goodness for the "lock" button feature.

18 Week Belly

Tom took this one instead of my usual self-timer after church Sunday-still growing! Feeling great and no complaints.

Lazy Weekend time in his chair...

And my buy of the month: two framed magnetic boards on clearance at the baby store for $5/each (Reg $30). Patrick loves the magnets and we are slowly working on our letters- he knows "M" now.

The Bad with the Good

The good: Date Night! The BEST date night-I am not so sure what specifically made the night so perfect other than I had forgotten what it is like to eat at my own pace without having to be constantly checking on Patrick. I even had dessert. And coffee. The kicker? Our reservation was for 5:30. That is not a typo. We were the first couple in our area seated, to be followed by two sets of seniors, both with walkers. Still, didn't bother us any, and we were able to pick Patrick up before his bedtime.

Got a long overdue haircut Saturday. Finished up some yard work Saturday morning with Tom and Patrick in above average temps-so nice!

The bad: The poison ivy I have on both my wrists after wrangling vines for the past three days. Seriously, in November? I am about to go calamine-lotion-up my arms before an early bed. Also, why can't I find any Thanksgiving decorations 2 weeks before the big day? It is only Christmas- like they just skipped over the whole thing.

Still, hope everyone had at least a little "good" going on this weekend.

Moms-In Case You Need a Laugh

If you haven't seen Anita Renfroe's spoof on the Taylor Swift song "Love Story", you have to watch this-clearly she gets motherhood! It had me laughing...and appropriately, I am about to start ironing while my husband is asleep on the couch. Ahhh, romance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLjWDKu0jfM

17 Week Belly

Here is baby at 17 weeks. I feel huge already, but otherwise in good health. In fact, I haven't made much mention of it, but my weight is perfectly on track with my goal of a pound a week, at least as of today. My doctors appointment is tomorrow, so we will see what the official record says... And in a few weeks, we find out the sex. That will be a fun blog to post. My thoughts? I think it is a girl (as does the Chinese gender prediction chart). So we'll just have to wait and see. I haven't lifted a finger in the nursery yet, so that project may need to wait until after Thanksgiving when we aren't expecting anymore guests for a while.