Well, he’s finally here! Zachary Phillip Cook came into the world at 1:22pm central time today, Sept. 15, 2009 (his due date, concidentally enough). He weighed 10lbs 9oz and was 22.5 inches long, and I decided to try out natural delivery with this one, just for funsies. I’m an idiot. Anyhoo, he’s here now, and that’s all that matters!

Baby Zack

This is part of a contest – I want to win some cool pj’s and a maternity gc.  So, here goes:

Baby Mad Libs (The green words are the mad lib words I chose without really reading the paragraph.)

Here is this week’s Booking Through Thursday query:

“It’s a week or two later than you’d expect, and it may be almost a trite question, but … what were your favorite books from 2008?”

Here are my answers, in no particular order:

- The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
- The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris
- The Florida Teens Read books, particularly:
a) Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher
b) Uglies, Pretties, and Specials by Scott Westerfeld
c) The Nature of Jade by Deb Caletti
d) Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
e) City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Most of these are YA lit, but I still love them!

Yesterday, we had the privilege of visiting the Gaylord Palms Hotel for the evening. Here are the kids in the indoor atrium:

Normally, we’d be a little out-classed at a place like that, but we had our “one night to be fancy” because of one of Mike’s students. Her mom works at the Palms, and she gave us an awesome discount package that included the room, 20% off shopping and dining, and free admission for 2 to Ice! Ice! is a HUGE display of ice sculpture, including some gigantic ice slides. Way cool, literally and figuratively. Here are the pictures of the kiddos enjoying this holiday treat:

We decided, afterwards, that it was pretty fun, but we probably wouldn’t pay full price to go again. They keep it at 9 degrees in there, which was just too cold for Jilly, despite being all bundled up and wearing the parka they provided. Plus, once you’ve seen it all once, it isn’t ALL that fun. I will say I was glad that we could step out of that igloo into a gorgeous, 78-degree sunny Florida afternoon.

It was really nice to get away for the night, though, and the hotel was great. It has a GIGANTIC pool, an indoor atrium, and great shopping and dining. Plus, it’s nice and kid-friendly, which is always cool.

Well, at least they would be if all brides handed out flasks as wedding giveaways.  Unfortunately, I did NOT bring my flask to my SIL’s wedding last weekend, so I was out of luck on the fun department.

Don’t get me wrong … the wedding was beautiful.  The bride was beautiful, the groom was completely enamored, the decorations were lovely, and my kids looked AWESOME in their little tux and flower girl dress, respectively.

See?  So cute.

However, my MIL, otherwise and henceforth known as the Wicked Witch of the South, did all she could to sabotage the wedding.  Screaming, refusing to help, messing with the decorations, and making the bride cry in regular intervals.  Also, calling multiple times during the honeymoon, only to question whether the groom was not allowing the bride answer the phone when she finally did, after five calls in a row.  Oh, yeah, we’ve reached new levels of evil. 

Here’s a summary of the weekend, which occurred in the form of a conversation on the plane ride home:

(Will was smooshing my mouth for his enjoyment and no other reason but that).
ME:  Will, please stop smooshing my mouth.  I have a boo boo (aka canker sore).
WILL:  Mommy, how did you get a boo boo in your MOUTH?!?
ME:  Probably from all the stress of dealing with Grammy this weekend.  (Oops, did I just say that out loud to my 5-year-old?  Yes, yes I did.  That’s what kind of weekend it was.)
WILL:  Mommy, are you allergic to Grammy?
(Lady next to us on plane erupts into laughter at this point and agrees that yes, Mommy probably is allergic to Grammy, as we all usually are allergic to our mothers in law.)

So from now on, I’m not going to Tennessee sans flask.  Put THAT on my Christmas list.