I know we are almost to Christmas & Thanksgiving seesm like a distant memory, but I really wanted to share what is a special memory for our family….

Every year Candace and I travel to Lakeland, Florida, to celebrate Thanksgiving with about 40 to 50 members from her side of our family. Specifically, it is my mother-in-law’s side of the family. We made the decision to go there before we were married in an effort to see Candace’s great-gradmother, otherwise know as Mimaw, as many times as we could before she passes away. At the time, the majority of the family was certain she had maybe two years left to live….BOY were they wrong!

It is now six years (and six Thanksgivings) later….and Mimaw is still with us! I know I have only been around for six years, but I walked away from this Thanksgiving feeling like it was one of the most special the family has ever experienced together. I thought it would be pretty hard to top the first year I was part of their Thanksgiving….the ones I experienced growing up were very different. However, this year had a special feel to it.

You could feel something was different this year right as it started out. We were all beginning to gather together in the living room for the traditional singing of hymns mixed with worhsip songs, a devotional, and prayer as a family. (On a side note, this can be a torturous 20-30 minutes because the food is visible in the kithen THE WHOLE TIME!) Before the signing started Johnny (not me) was filming the family with his video camera. He zoomed in on Mimaw and said hello…then told her all of us getting together was “her fault.” That struck me! He’s right….we are all there because of her! This Thanksgiving is her 101st, she has been alive over 100 years; and has been the foundation for the sense of love and kinship the family shows today. While her ability to help cook and prepare has diminished, it is more evident than ever her influence on the family and the love we share has only increased as the years have passed.

The family’s unconditional love for each other is an inspiration for the coming generations. All of us see it, respect it, and deeply cherish it. No matter what the fmaily or its members are going through….we all find the time to come together. In my opnion, it’s the perfect model to follow as our family grows….

Enjoy the Holidays, no matter what is happening this year….you never know how much longer you have with those you love most.

Even though she will never read it, I still want to say it…..Thank you, Mimaw, for being the cornerstone of love for the family.

Well, Ultrasound #4 actually happened about six weeks ago….but I really havent had the chance to get this worked on until now.  So, I apologize for the delay.  I think you will see it is worth the wait!

This ultrasound was by far the most breath-taking.  I was absolutely amazed at the detail of what we saw….the equipment at the hospital was so much more advanced than that of the OBGYN’s office.  As I watched the nurse check bone organ sizes…..it was simply amazing to see the detail and the life!!!  At one point, the nurse change modes on the machine, and we could actually see the blood flowing on the screen….AWESOME.

I think the funnest part was the nurse making Candace move all around to try to get the baby to move into a position so we could find out the sex.  She had to lay on each side, on her back, and cough really hard…..which all happened in between the nurse prodding Candace’s stomach.  FINALLY, though, the nurse was able to get a still shot and she determined….

It’s a GIRL!!!

We are SO excited….and you all know Candace is just elated.  As I mentioned in the post for Ultrasound #3, she wants a girl and had already bought some dresses for her.  We have also decided on a name, but I am not sharing that until tomorrow….

Before I start on the actual skunk story, let me give you some circumstances that lead up to the skunking.  My wife, Candace, is currently pregnant; and she has a cast on the lower half of her right leg from an ankle injury.  She has been very graceful in enduring the cast for the last 3 weeks and has just 3 more weeks to go.  Considering her impeded mobility, I have had to pick up a lot of the household duties as well as errands we normally share. 

So….I will give you a list of those involved, then I will proceed into last Tuesday night’s events….

The People/Victims
Me – aka “Favorite Son-In Law”
Tom Sterbens – Pastor, Future Grandparent, & Antogonist of his “Favorite Son-in-Law”

The Dogs/Victims (Dogs are listed by Seniority)
Dog #1 – Shorty (Male) – Owned by the In-Laws and resident grumpy dog
Dog #2 – Waddle (Male) – Owned by Candace & Me – aka “The Ring Leader”
Dog #3 – Bubbles (Female) – Owned by Candace & Me – aka “Ring Leader’s Sidekick”
Dog #4 – Sugar (Female) – Owned by Aunt Beth – aka “The Rotten One”

I got off work at 4 as usual, then ran an errand on the way home.  I got back into Sevierville about 6:30, and I decided to drop by the grocery store to get some of the things Candace was getting low on or was completely out of….she is not able to drive right now, so she can’t get them herself.  While I was there, I picked up something to make dinner for myself since she currently has dance practices until about 9pm every night until after the concert. 

Now…I was leaving Food City VERY excited about my dinner, and I have my whole night planned to get a good bit of side work done.  I purchased a frozen “dinner in a bag” Chicken Florentine & Farfalle dinner made by Bertolli to make when I got home, and if you have not had one….you should try it! 

Anyway…back to the story…I pulled up to my in-laws (we are staying there so Candace has help in the morning and isn’t at our house going up and down stairs alone) at about 7:30 ready to unload the groceries, make dinner, and get a little work done before I went to pick Candace up from dance practice at the church.  When I pulled up to the house, my favorite father-in-law (most who read this will know him as Pastor Tom Sterbens) was outside.  He greeted me and asked what I was doing, so I quickly sputed off my plans….he laughed (as usual) at my detailed planning and said, “That’s great, son.” 

I asked him how his day was, and he started to share how he had some work done on the other part of his property.  He asked if I wanted to see it, and I agreed.  He decided we should take the dogs with us….and I agreed.  so he let Shorty and Sugar out of the house (my dogs were already outside “doing their business”).  We started up the small hill and onto the road he was having cut into the hill on the other part of the property.  The sun was falling fast and it was getting almost too dark to see by the time we got to the end of the new road.  He pointed out a few places a new home could be built, and it was GORGEOUS.  The road was cut into a rather steep hill, but it was done so well my little Scion could navigate it with no promblem.

So, it was time to head back to the house.  By this time, it was getting dark enough we were not able to see very deep into the surrounding trees.  We were walking down the new road and decided we would go to the end of the road and walk through the field near the river instead of climbing back down the rather steep hillside again. 

Here is where the fun starts….as we get near the end of the road and into the clearing, Waddle (The Ring Leader) lets out a small growl and takes off like a lightning bolt through the small patch of woods to our right.  Dad and I looked at each other trying to figure out what was happening, and as I looked back I spotted a dark little ball of fur with a fluffy tale sticking up in the air running for its life (with Waddle not far behind) toward the treeline to our left.  As Waddle is closing in on the URF (Unidentified Running Furball), the rest of the dogs are catching up and falling into formation.  Dad and I realize what we just saw, IT’S A SKUNK!!! At approximately the same time the other dogs catch Waddle and the skunk, the skunk makes it into the treeline, and I am now screaming as forcefully as I can to get Waddle (because the rest will follow him) away from the skunk….

It’s too late….we can already smell the infamous odor….Waddle ends his pursuit and trots toward us with his careless pride.  He trots between us and starts to follow behind (like he did on the way up the road).  After he did this the odor became overwhelming….we could hardly breathe.  Apprently Waddle got close enough in his pursuit to actualy receive the Skunk’s venom directly in his face!

Now, everyone I know has smelled skunk before, and everyone knows the odor carries for miles.  So imagine the smell the last time you passed one that was laying directly on the side of the road….and multiply it by a hundred!  It was an overpowering cloud of nasty odor that blanketed every dog, our clothes, our hair, and our skin!

Dad made his way inside to investigate how to get the dogs cleaned and de-skunked while I was charged with corralling the pooches and preparing them for the cleansing. Shorty, Bubbles, and Sugar smelled; but it was tolerable.  They were just victims of the residue (like Dad & me).  Waddle, however, was repulsive!  Dad returned with a magic formula to bathe the dogs in….we were working with a sense of urgency since the smell was only intensifying as time passed.  He said that Mom (Brenda) could smell him as soon as he walked in their bedroom and promptly asked, “What is that smell?!”

The found the de-skunking potion of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap through Google; then quickly mixed up a batch.  We started the bathing cycle with Waddle.  Believe it or not, it worked!  Waddle & Bubble each required a second bathing….but all dogs were de-skunked.

In hindsight, I feel rather foolish.  The night before I noticed a rather strong skunk odor, so I knew we had one on the property.  I was extremely cautious letting the dogs out to do their business that night and before I left for work in the morning to the extent of scouting the whole area with a flashlight before letting them loose.  I knew if Waddle saw it, he would chase it….and it would be bad…

I guess God had other plans….yet another lesson….no matter how hard I try be, I am not in charge!  Hope you enjoyed, because it is definitely funnier to you than me!

So we are just over 16 weeks and we had our third ultrasound this past Tuesday afternoon.  By now, the surreal feelingshave worn off a bit and I now grow more excited as each week passes.  We are constantly asked, “What do you want to have?”  The answers sound so coy, but they are the truth….Neither of us care if it is a he or she….we truthfully just want a healthy baby.  It seems like  such a general and generic answer, but it is truly heartfelt.  I know I won’t understand what a child will change until her/sheis here…..but I have determined having a girl scares me the most.  EVERYONE says she will melt my heart away….and I believe them….so being out-numbered two to one with to ladies that hold me powerless with their smiles will be quite the challenge….

I find myself, at random times, daydreaming about our little one.  I fall off into imagination picturing the little one at two years old coming up to my side as I work on the computer and beckoning for my attention….the innocent smile, gentle touch, and pure love….and I simply can’t wait.  I constantly pray that work/things are never more important than the gifts of family.  I want to be the kind of Dad that finds it a joy to be “interupted” for some time and attention.  So I suppose I have a lot of preparation and work to do….being selfless is harder this day and time than it ever has been.

Now, back to the ultrasound….We are at 18 weeks and for all intents and purposes we are supposed to be finding out the sex of the baby….but he/she had other plans.  The baby was in a breach position….so that made things a little more complicated to view.  The doc had to use a different angle.  Once hewas all set and investigating, we found the baby’s legs were crossed.  He tried hard, but we were not able to see anything definitive to tell us whether it will be a boy or girl.  He did say, though, he was leaning VERY heavily toward a girl….but we are supposed to find out for sure in three weeks.

Our next appointment will be at Fort Sanders hospital in Knoxville where they have a little more advanced equipment.  This equipment should allow us to get a definitive answer on the sex of the baby.  I had originally thought we agreed not to tell anyone what the doc said, but that went out the window the next day when Candace pointed out to all of facebook what the doc said to us.

He also encouraged us not to go out and buy anything yet (like baby clothes), because he wanted to be 100% sure….but she could resist shopping over the holiday weekend.  Candace has already purchased two little dresses….so I guess we all know what she wants to have!

I have to say, ultrasound #2 was far more exciting than the first.  I had a surreal feeling of seeing such a small life for the first time before, but now I was seeing definitive features of that little life.  Small arms, legs, and head….and they are a part of me & the love of my life!

Candace and the Little Bit are at 12 weeks at the time of Ultrasound #2, so it is too early to know if it is a boy or a girl.  We have talked about it, and we definitely want to find out what we are having….I was relieved when she agreed with me (because we all know I would have had to agree to what she wanted) to find out what we are having.  If you know me at all, you know I am a planner…..and I have some control issues.  I like to know things are in control and make sure they go according to plan.  I have a feeling that will go out the window with this whole kid on the way thing….

Anyway….I have been lazy and still do not have pictures up, but I will soon.  Thanks for reading!

Well, Hello World (Again)!!!

I previously launched my personal blog in late July, but assassinated it late last week.  I was making improvements and tweaks to to the theme I installed when I renamed a folder and crashed the whole site.  Like a newbie, I did not have a backup of the site, so I lost both posts and all comments…..NO BUENO!!

If you were on that posted a comment or signed up….I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.  You can now rejoy with me that I learned a valuable lesson and will be diligently working to prevent a disaster like that again in the future.

- John B.