One of my favorite things (most of the time!) about being a mom is the little chattering companion that is constantly beside me/behind me/directly in front of me when my arms are completely full. Dean's running dialogue makes me laugh sometimes as he creates such grown up phrases. Here are a few of my favorite.

"hings" - As in, "Momma, what are dose blue hings over dare?".

"ba-tween" - As in, "I'm gonna sit ba-tween you and daddy.".

"what you say?" - If he doesn't understand what I mean when I tell him something, he keeps repeating, "what you say?".

"ever" - This really means "never". As in, "I ever seen one of dose momma.".

"but we can try it" - If I say, no, you cannot have candy before dinner, his reply is "but we can try it!".

"D fir Dean!" - He can spot a D on any sign as we drive down the road.

"I heard a dog ruffing" - Dogs are a huge fascination.

And the ALL TIME BEST:
"I love you in whole world and to fin-na-nees" - This is what Dean tells us as he goes to bed or on the phone. He started saying this by repeating something John told him. The true meaning is, "I love you more than anything in the whole world and to infinity." It's priceless!


Dean,
You are such a joy. We love watching you grow and learn. Your precious grateful heart and sweet gentle spirit challenge us to be better parents. You are so quick to thank us for taking you places and giving you "hings". You don't hesitate to give us plenty of kisses and hugs. And you keep us smiling with your quick wit and happy attitude. We pray that you will take these traits with you your whole life and allow God to use them for His glory. We thank Him every day for giving you to us.
We love you in the whole world and to fin-na-nees.
Daddy & Momma

Just to keep you updated...I went to the Dr. today. He said that they will start monitoring me for signs of labor starting next week. I am going to have an ultrasound every other week and a test on the alternating weeks to see if my body is getting ready for labor. I have been getting a weekly progesterone shot since 16 weeks to hopefully prolong the pregnancy. I can't believe we are in the home stretch already...or at least it feels that way! Hopefully this little guy won't be showing up anytime soon. We need him to hang out for about 7 more weeks AT LEAST!

Our little guy is extremely active and kicks almost constantly it seems. We are looking forward to holding him!

I took this video of Dean in our driveway right before heading out on our beach adventure to Galveston. I thought he was pretty cute as he talked about what the beach would be like and what he would do when we got there. This was his first trip back to the Gulf since he was a baby. Around 00:30 on the video is what cracked me up.

-John-

It was so much fun watching Dean experience the beach. He is talking so good and it is really neat to carry on a conversation with him about what he is doing. He had a blast making a "dribble" castle (as he called it!) and then promptly knocking it over. He loved burying his feet and pretending that we were going to leave him stuck there. And he just couldn't wait to use his big "shauble" to dig in the dirt. He also made us laugh when we were downtown and he saw a horse drawn carriage. He said "I EVER seen one of dose momma!". (He substitues "ever" for "never" a lot!). His running commentary on everything he saw kept us laughing.

"What is all dis traffic...we are ever gonna be at da beach?"
"We need dat policeman to skooch dose cars out of our way."

"Is dis da beach?" No, this is the hotel.
"Is da beach at da hotel?" No, but it is close.
"Why are we at da hotel?" Oh yeah, you've never stayed at a hotel before. We sleep here and then drive to the beach.
"So...dis is is the hotel and den we go to da beach and dig in da sand." Yes

"Is dis da beach?" Yes
"Can I get out and dig with my big shauble?" Not right now.
"Why can we not get out of da car momma?" Because Daddy was trying to drive onto the beach like those other cars and now we are stuck in the sand. Pass Daddy your big shovel so he can dig the tires out.

One of his favorite things we did was go to the beach after dark and look for sand crabs with our flashlights. He chased those little "crabbies" all over the sand! He told us before we went that he was going to go out there and say, "hey crabbies, come over here!". His creativity is really amazing. We had a blast seeing the beach through his eyes and catching his excitement. It was a great family vacation. Our first!

John was furiously rummaging around the room and throwing things into our suitcases. I was propped up in the bed with the phone, trying to get a taxi lined up. Somehow, this is not how we imagined spending day 2 of our vacation in Mexico! The early morning darkness seemed to protect us from the reality of what was happening. Was this really just a dream? Before we knew it, we were in the hospital ER in Cancun, talking with the emergency room doctor (praise God he spoke english!) and trying to decide if I was in labor at 26 weeks.

A little while later, we met with the gynecologist. If you have ever seen a Mexican soap opera on TV as you flipped through channels, you probably caught a glimpse of this doctor. His hair was combed back and shiny so that you could see every perfect row that the comb's teeth left behind. John describes him as a Mexican George Clooney. He did not speak english so he brought a translator with him. It is a very humbling feeling to know that your treatment and the care of your unborn child is in the hands of someone you can't understand.

After 5 1/2 hours in the ER with people we couldn't understand and who didn't understand us, an ultrasound, an IV, a contraction monitor, blood tests, prescriptions written in spanish, my first ever suppository (yikes), and a charge to the credit card for $700, we were cleared. We took a taxi straight to the airport, starving and exhausted. And there we sat, on the cold tile floor, trying to catch a flight to American soil. We told the airline that it was a medical emergency, but the flights were completely full so the best they could do was put us on the top of the standby list. After five flights departed without a standby call, we spoke with my awesome Dr. at home and decided we would just stay put for the remainder of our vacation, drinking plenty of bottled water and relaxing.

Back at the hotel, we ordered room service, watched movies and floated in the pool that was right outside our room. That was more like the vacation we had planned. The rest still seems like a bad dream.

A couple of nights ago before bedtime, Dean got inspired to write his own song. It's mostly gibberish, but he hits one spectacular note near the end. It's pretty awesome so watch the whole thing. The shirt pulled over his head is a nice touch too. The boy is crazy.

-John-

Dean likes to stand on his "stage" (in front of the fire place) and perform his original songs (accompanied by his guitar) almost every day. Today he was singing at the top of his lungs. Most of the words were original as well but I caught a few lyrics that I understood. It went something like: "all right, all right, sushi and rice".

He still sings his favorite, "oh no...never let go..." (Matt Redmond) and has now added "glory to God foreverrrrrrrrr" (Fee) and "heaven come down" (Robbie Seay Band) to his repertoire. All of these are performed at a level of volume high enough so that the neighbors can enjoy the concert as well.