Well, instead of being at the hospital recovering from surgery and meeting my little boy, I’m sitting here with a homemade iced mocha, watching Analise draw “miley face”s on her Aquadoodle. At yesterdays 39 week appointment, our doctor was sure that our little Toone-to-be had turned himself into the right position to come on his own time, so we wait:) I’m making some good progress towards labor, though, so it could be this weekend… or not. Babies come when they’re ready, and on the perfect day God’s chosen for their birthday. I have an appointment on Monday, my actual due date (June 5th) and I think if little one hasn’t arrived by Friday, we may be induced that day. We’ll see… but keep watching your email for an announcement! I promise we’ll let you know as soon as he arrives. There’s wireless internet at our hospital, so Brian’s planning on sending out an email just as soon as he can – with pictures of course.

What are we doing in these “waiting days”? Honestly, not much. They’ve been lovely. It’s so great to have Brian around, not dividing himself between school and home. We’re still “nesting”:) Cleaning, organizing, scrapbooking, more cleaning (it seems that’s something you have to do on a continual basis…hmm). We’ve been doing errands together, making life much easier for me, and more enjoyable to have Analise and Brian with me. I’ve been making french toast and pancakes on my new griddle (my Mother’s Day present), and it’s WONDERFUL. It’s very easy to clean, and as long as I have Brian around, it’s easy to get out/put away since it lives on top of the cupboards. Today we had chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes – a double batch so we can enjoy them for the rest of the week.

Brian’s had some good bike rides, in spite of the heat and humidity. He’s taking the cell phone with him in case I need to call him home to have a baby. Yesterday, though, he got a call from my sister that had him worried for a minute. He didn’t look at the caller ID, and he couldn’t tell who it was, except that the voice was chipper. He had to hang up and then called me back, relieved to find out that I was fine and he could keep riding. Today, he got a call from our friend, Lauren, that he couldn’t tell who it was. So if you want to have some fun, give a call to our cell phone and maybe you’ll catch Brian riding and send him frantically biking home to me, expecting a baby:).

I think we’re going out for a nice dinner, just the two of us tonight. I’m excited!

For your reading enjoyment today, I thought I’d share with you the list of things that I prefer to eat in these late-pregnant days:

• cold watermelon;
• fresh strawberries with a dusting of sugar – a favorite breakfast, snack or late night snack;
• homemade guacomole – simply mashed avocado with garlic salt and chopped tomato – with Doritos for dipping. This has been lunch for the past couple days.
• oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (particularly from the Betty Crocker bag mix) with a glass of cold milk. This can be justified as a good-for-me breakfast:) Brian needs to go to the store to get a couple mixes today.
• Georgia Peach sno-cones… we’re going out to get one this afternoon:)
• iced mocha or latte (which I’ve been making at home in the past few days – yum! I’m currently sipping on a venti iced choco-latte creation.)

Here’s a picture of what was going on as I was writing this blog. Brian and the stuffed cows were napping (per Analise’s orders), and as he told me to get a picture, Analise got her little camera, too. As I was taking the picture, she said, “Miles! Cheese, baby – cute!” You can’t see it, but she had a big smile behind her camera:)

Today’s a nice day here at the Toone house. My husband has been a hero taking all my orders and helping me get the house “ready”… whatever that means. While he was out riding this morning, though, I took some of my downtime during Analise’s nap to try to get her baby book caught up. (yes, it is good timing, isn’t it?? This is what’s called “nesting” of the pregnant woman.) It was fun to reminisce over her early days, all her firsts and how much she’s changed since she turned one just less than a year ago. It was especially sweet to remember things surrounding her arrival and the first few weeks. A few notables:

• Our first outing – Analise was born on Tuesday night, we came home from the hospital on Thursday evening, and I think on Friday afternoon we went out the mother/baby store in downtown Davis to see if their lactation specialist could verify that we were doing ok with breastfeeding. I vaguely remember it was exhausting and a bit overwhelming to get all of us out of the house, into the car, into the store and back home. The 2nd outing, if you could call it that, was memorable… we were surprised by a sharp banging on our apartment door on Monday (when Analise was 6 days old). It was the fire chief telling us there was an apartment fire in our building and we needed to evacuate! I ask you… what would YOU do in that situation?? We grabbed 2 diaper bags, stuffed all the onesies, burp cloths and diapers into them we could (if we knew anything after being parents for 6 days, it was that we would need a lot of clothes and diapers and stuff to clean up Analise’s spitting up), Brian grabbed his Snoopy dog that he’s had since he was little, a framed picture of the 3 of us we’d just been given, a bible, and we evacuated with Analise in the car seat into the near-100 degree afternoon. Thankfully, we were only outside for 10 minutes or so, but there had actually been a kitchen fire in the apartment on the other side of the building from us – I think we shared a wall with them. What a fun experience! (below, she looks so tiny in her infant seat so I thought I’ld post this ust for comparison, Analise resting in the infant seat this past week – note: she’s talking on the cell phone, and she’d asked for all the animals to sit with her.)


• First travel – Just a few days later, on Thursday, July 8th (I think??), we flew from Sacramento to Denver to Minneapolis for my sister, Anna, and Hal’s wedding. What did we bring (the baby book asked)? What DIDN’T we bring!?! Very little for Brian or I, but tons of bottles, syringes (since we were still finger-feeding Analise and she wasn’t breast-feeding well), a breastpump, lots of diapers, clothes, blankets and burp cloths. It was definitely an experience to travel with one so little!

I’ll close with the heart-warming moment of the day, and another “first” for the baby book. I asked her if she could say, “I love you”, and she said, “I wuv you, mommy” and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I’m just about to cry just typing it:) I love being a mom.

The other day, when Brian and I both got drinks from Starbucks, we got into a discussion about really getting your money’s worth for your drink. He normally gets a venti caramel macchiato, while I normally get a small drink, lately an iced latte of some flavor. We realized that when you get an iced drink, you REALLY only get half of a small sized drink. I finished my latte, and when the ice had melted, there was more than half a glass of water left. HMM. We determined the best thing to do is to start asking for a my regular latte with a cup of ice:) Haven’t done it yet, but we probably will! Today, though, I got drinks for both of us (NOT Starbucks, a different independent coffee shop that we much prefer… don’t get me started on the sore lack of coffee shops with “character” here… practically your only choices are Starbucks, Starbucks, and Panera (with less real coffee drink options)… I digress). This time, I ordered a small drink (a Nutty Buddy, a lovely mocha-like drink with hazelnut and chocolate sauce…mmm!), brought it home and poured it over ice. It’s divine – and plenty big! This is the WAY TO GO:)

Just wanted to check in to say that nothing exciting is happening in the Toone household. At my 38 week appointment yesterday, my doctor seems to think our little boy may have flipped yet again, back into breech (butt-first) position. We didn’t get it confirmed via ultrasound, since he’s got a week to flip-flop back. But my next appointment is Tuesday, and if he’s still breech then we may be having a baby on Wednesday or Thursday by c-section. *sigh* These last weeks of being pregnant are like cruel mind games… Oh well, he’ll get here one way or another, on the day God’s already chosen as his birthday. BUT! Today would be a good day, as he could share his birthday with Grandpa Dale. Happy Birthday, Daddy!! No one would guess how old you are! We love you!

I am a lucky woman in so many ways. But yesterday was really sweet as my friends from Clearwater Community Church threw a baby shower for our little Toone-to-Be. It was so fun, and I appreciate them so much!! We got a big gift bag of stock-up items, like wipes, tylenol, diaper creme, baby wash, etc. We got a few cute outfits and some crib sheets. I was really surprised, though, to open a gift from all the hostesses – a Baby Gymnastics Jumperoo! I registered for it at Babies ‘R Us just as a fun thought for something new that Analise never had, but I never expected to get it. What a treat! I think little Josiah will enjoy it… Analise is dying for us to open it, and I’m sure she’d love to try it out!

Here’s a picture of all the lovely ladies. Obviously, I’m in the center, looking LARGE. I think that’s a bad angle for me… Analise was holding a little camera she’d found at home. She’s so funny – she’ll say, “Miles! Ready? Cheese!” as she’s pretending to take your picture. It’s still hard to catch her smiling, though. She entertained herself with blocks at the party (below). She’s never really enjoyed these large Legos, but Sunday in the nursery, she spent quite a bit of time with them, and she was building tall towers with them during the party.

Lastly, here’s a little glimpse of me and my late-pregnancy craving – Sno-Biz sno cones. I don’t want anything but Georgia Peach flavor, a mix of strawberry and peach. Man – it hits the stop! I’m dying for one right now! You can’t beat it for $1!

Not much to relate from the Toone household this Saturday morning. Brian just left for Samford’s graduation ceremony. He informed me that 9am would be the perfect time for me to call him on the cell phone to let him know I was in labor – so he wouldn’t have to sit through a 3 hour ceremony in his heavy velvet robe and regalia. Haha… I don’t think that’s going to happen. Analise is watching Saturday morning cartoons (Diego, The Animal Rescuer). I’m going to try not to overdo myself today but still get some things accomplished around the house. I’ve got the late-pregnancy “nesting” urge to get baby things set up and organized. Hopefully, Brian will be able to help me this afternoon. If you came to our house today, you’d be hard pressed to find any sign that we’ve got a baby on the way except for my huge belly and a pile of clothes/blankets/burp clothes/etc on the extra bed.

I did want to post a picture of the beautiful baby quilt that my friend, Rena Kirk, made for little Josiah (I mentioned it in this blog). I think it turned out beautifully!

Yesterday was kind of a funny day. I got quite a few things done before leaving for swimming at 8:30. I was REALLY proud to manage a stop at the post office with 3 birthday gifts (Happy belated to Dena!!! Happy birthday to Hal and my Dad next week!!). The rest of the day was quiet since my morning swim and busy-ness had worn me out. Brian didn’t get home until 6:45 because of some school stuff, but I knew he’d be late and I was planning on making a quiche. Now, I NEVER have a problem with making quiche (without a recipe), and put it in the oven so it’d be done right around the time he got home. Well. It wasn’t. It was still runny in the middle, and by the time Brian got home I was frustrated, the quiche was still cooking, and Analise and I were HUNGRY. We ended up leaving the quiche in the turned-off oven and going to Sonic. My sweet husband even stopped at the sno-cone place on the way home to make up for my rough evening. Anyway, at least now we’ve got lunch or dinner for today since the quiche is definitely done! (Oh, and maybe one day I’ll figure out a recipe and post it – my quiche is normally pretty darn good!)

I’ve been wanting to write up this blog since Sunday,
but it has been a super busy week! We had an awesome Mother’s Day weekend
starting out Sunday morning when Analise and I worked on this picture frame
for Kristine during Sunday School at our church. Then after church
we met my parents, my brother, and my grandmother at CiCi’s pizza for
a nice Mother’s Day no-cooking / no-cleanup dinner. We had a nice relaxing
meal and lots of pizza!

Then while Kristine and Analise were napping, I went for a short bike ride
around Hoover inspired to find the steepest hills in our city. Along the
way I stopped by my parents house to say hi again to mom on mother’s day.
I also road on Deodara Drive, named for this Deodara pine tree found next
to Star Lake. Finally, I made it up the steepest hill in Hoover near our
house (which would be just behind the trees on the left on the near ridge).

Later in the evening on Sunday, we went to the snow-cone place in Pelham
to satisfy Kristine’s late pregnancy craving before returning home to watch
the final episode of West Wing. All in all, I think Kristine had a wonderful
Sunday for mother’s day.

Both Friday and Monday were fun too. First, on Monday, my
department at Samford threw us a baby shower and gave us this cake to welcome
our baby boy when he comes. We had a great time eating, chatting, hanging out
and opening presents. Analise loved playing with Steve’s kids so we could relax
and not have to worry about taking care of her. We also had a nice relaxing
Friday evening to kick things off. Analise goes crazy over toes, and we’ve got
video to prove it!

It has been a while since I checked in, hasn’t it? Sorry about that! Honestly, there’s not much blog-worthy going on around the Toone house. Just waiting for baby… At my 37 week appointmet today, I’m happy to relate that our little one has flipped himself to the head-down position, ready for delivery. Yeah! Last week we were talking about a c-section on May 30th. I’m relieved to not be looking at surgery. Now, we’re waiting for him to come on his own. Hopefully, he won’t be as stubborn as his big sister, who was 12 days late and DIDN’T come on her own. I was pleased to hear that I’m already 1.5 centimeters dilated, which is more than I was after 12 hours of labor with Analise! Woohoo! Hearing that got Brian realizing that Josiah could come anytime – he’d better be ready! Finals are done, and he’s wrapping up grades. Graduation is Saturday, and then we’re looking forward to life settling down a little, and hopefully getting our house ready for baby.

We were blessed by another baby shower on Monday, with the computer science and math department from Samford. It was so much fun to get together with everyone – they’re a great group of people. We got some cute outfits, a couple stuffed animals, a beautiful hand-crocheted blanket and a framed poem. It was a nice evening.

Cheaha Challenge Century

It’s been an awesome, fun couple weeks of biking that I want to catch
everyone up on. I’ll go in reverse order with today’s
Cheaha Challenge,
billed as the toughest ride in the South. And it was tough. The course is
an out and back course which means that you ride out 50.65 miles and then
turn around and ride back the exact same way for a total of 101.3 miles. It
took just a little over 5 hours for an average speed of 20.1 mph. I topped
out at 52.1 mph coming down one of the hills near rest stop #3 on the map
above. I was able to stay with the lead group all the way until the climb
coming back up Cheaha Mountain on the way back. I got dropped as the lead
three riders just slowly pulled away from me. That would have meant a
lonely 45 miles back to the start, but my dad and Kristine met me at
several points to cheer me on and give me food and water. They are awesome!
Here’s a picture of Kristine waiting at the finish, and here’s one of
Analise looking more tired than daddy!

Sunny King Criterium
(Click on each image to see a larger image)

Saturday afternoon we all loaded into my parents car and drove to Anniston, AL
for the Sunny King Criterium. This was the first criterium my parents had seen
me race since before I left for grad school in California! It was also the largest
criterium I’ve done since 1998. There were 77 people in my race, and I ended
up placing 14th. I was in fairly good position going into the last corner, but
a rider was going very slow in front of me going into the last corner, and I lost
several positions trying to get around him. There was an exciting professional
race after my race. There were 100 professional and Category 1 riders in the race,
and it was exciting. There were four cameras set up around the course, and three
large wide screen TV’s set up in the start/finish area to watch all the action.
The two videos below are of the Pro-1 race. It was fast! I’ll let the pictures
speak for themselves. Click on each one to see a larger image.

(Click here for high-res version – 3.2 MB)

(Click here for high-res version – 3.2 MB)

The ladies watch a small breakaway in an earlier race.	Analise and Grandma “bwaca” try to figure out how to climb the tree.
There were some exciting little kids races with parents frantically running after their children. Analise is for sure doing this next year!	Runners line up for the 1km dash-for-cash.
Analise tries to take a nap in the “bed” she found, which was actually my warm-up rollers!	The pro race was so exciting to watch, especially with the widescreen TV’s and video cameras setup all around the course.

This past weekend was spent chasing Brian around on his bike:) Saturday was a criterium, which involves 1 hour of racing on a very short course. In this case, it was held in downtown Anniston, on a 4 city block square. This is a pretty big race, drawing good cyclists from all over the country. Brian’s parents went with us, and we had a fun time staking out a good spot to watch the action and enjoying a food festival while Brian got ready. He did really well, placing 14th overall, of about 70 racers, and actually winning a little bit of money. It was an exciting race! The race wasn’t until 6:15pm, so we didn’t get home until almost 10.

Sunday was another cycling race, called the Cheaha Challenge. It’s known as the “toughest ride in the South” because it’s 102 miles up and over – and back – Mount Cheaha, the highest point in Alabama. We had to leave at 5am, in the middle of a huge thunder and lightning storm here in Birmingham. Thirty minutes from the start, as we were going to be arriving just minutes before the scheduled start, Brian realizes that he has no bike shorts:), just a pair of tights he’d brought to layer under his bike shorts due to the cool, rainy weather. Hmm… after 102 miles he was going to be awfully sore without the padding in his bike shorts:( After we dropped him off in the pouring rain (with the start delayed 15 minutes), we were driving out to our first spectating point on the course and realized he’d forgotten his glasses. Ag! We were able to hand them to him, though. The weather cleared up, and it even ended up being a warm, nice day by the time he finished 5hours, 2 minutes later. We saw him at several different points. For more than half the race, he was in the lead pack, but he dropped back some in the 2nd half, and ended up finishing 4th (behind 2 professionals). He was pleased with the race, and I was impressed:) I love watching him race!

Two funny moments of the weekend. First, Saturday evening at the criterium, Brian wanted to stay to watch the professional race, which was right after he finished. Analise and I were pretty tired, so we retreated to the Toone car to watch a DVD. As the race was wrapping up, a truck pulled into the parking lot, with about 6 or 7 men seated in the bed area. At first glance, they were all wearing boldly black and white striped shirts. Hmm, I thought, wonder what kind of group would pick shirts like that, since they looked a lot like something from a jail. They backed in next to us for a moment, and when one of them stood up, I saw that it wasn’t just a shirt, but a whole black and white jumpsuit. Hmm… guess their “group” actually was a jail! I guess they were there to clean up after the festivities.

The other fun moment came as Brian was recapping his race. The last 25 miles were a bit of a mental battle for him, as he was riding alone, and it was gentle rolling hills that seemed very long after all the up and down climbing of the first 3/4 of the race. Anyway, he rode past a little turtle who was just starting across the road. But he couldn’t go too far without feeling like he needed to go back and rescue the turtle, helping him cross the road. My husband is a hero! (He gets this from me… I’ll ALWAYS stop to help turtles across the road.) I’m so proud of him! Note… he’d probably have broken 5 hours if he hadn’t helped the turtle:)

I’m not sure who reads all the way to the end of my blogs, especially the ones without pictures, but I just have to add this. My husband is amazing:) It’s the craziest time of year for him, as he’s helping students nearly around the clock (it’s 10:44 pm, and he’s at school helping them with a project due tomorrow!), getting tests graded, finals written, trying to wrap up the semester. He’s got so much on his plate at work. Here at home, he’s been so much help, trying to take as much of the burden off me as he can. He’s doing so much of the stuff that I would normally do, and I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate it without tearing up. To top it all off, he’s putting up with emotional me, and being strong when I dissolve into tears almost nightly for any number of reasons. I’m sure he’s overwhelmed and stressed – when he has a moment to think about it – but he’s been amazing, and I’m so thankful to have him! I love you, Brian!!