Little P Says to Rock the Vote

I have a confession to make. Even though I am almost 30, I have never voted. I was always away at school or never registered in the place where I was living during the times that the elections rolled around. However, since moving to Florida, I made sure to register in my county and yesterday, the hubby, little P and I went to early voting and cast our ballots. I realized that it was my duty as a US citizen as well as my duty as a mother to make sure I voted this year. You see, as soon as little P came into this world, I realized I had this new awesome responsibility as a parent. (This realization even caused me to break down in tears several times on our way home from the hospital; I just couldn't believe the nurses allowed the hubby and I to take this little creature home with us!) And I feel that an important aspect of being a good parent is to do everything possible to ensure the best future for my child and any future children. I might not be able to single-handedly fix all the problems this country is facing at the moment but at least I can try to help bring into office the best person to address the economic crisis, health care, education, the environment and foreign relations so that little P and his future sibs will have a wonderful world to live in. Sure I feel guilty for not taking advantage of my right to vote sooner but I am happy that I didn't let another opportunity pass me by and that I made little P a part of the experience too. After all, not many 6 week olds can say they've been to the polls.

I know, I know. I'm not keeping up with this blog like I should be. We've just had a lot of visitors lately, and I've actually been able to get out of the house a few times! Hubby's parents came for a visit when little P was about a week old.











Then hubby's sister and her boyfriend were down for a few days, and little P had his first experience bowling. Well, okay, he really only sat in his little car seat at the bowling alley and actually, he slept through the entire thing so he didn't even know he was there. Still, Mama bowled well and we all had fun.














Today, hubby's boss and his wife hosted a University of Tennessee football party/Noah's ark-themed baby shower for little P (how many babies get one of those?!?) They were so generous in putting together all the food and gifts and the most adorable cake I've ever seen.


And again, little P slept through 95% of the party so everyone said what an angel he is. Papa and I are just bracing for tonight thinking we may not be getting too much sleep since that's all he did today.
Aunty Busty (my sister) and her hubby are coming on Tuesday to meet their nephew. I know they'll spoil him rotten with hugs and kisses and cuddles and hopefully they'll spoil me rotten by mixing me up one of those delicious chocolate martinis they make. I've been craving one since I got pregnant. We can't wait for them to visit!

My Boy Knows How to Eat

Peyton went to the pediatrician this morning for his newborn check-up. He did well (aside from peeing on the exam table twice) and is now 8 lbs, 10 oz. That's almost a 1 pound weight gain in 4 days! I wasn't surprised he had surpassed his birth weight the way he's been eating lately. I know he needs to eat to grow but sometimes I want to tell him Momma's milk buffet is closed.
Grandma and Grandpa G are down from Virginia for a visit. I'll post more pictures soon.

I Think I'll Just Stay Home From Now On

Hello all! Sorry I've been a little MIA lately. A 7 pound, 12 ounce little bundle has been keeping me pretty busy. But, we did manage to take our maiden voyage out of the house today to WalMart of all places. And I discovered something that as a working woman I never realized before. All the idiots of the world shop at WalMart during the day while the rest of us are working. Or at least that's the case where I live. I wasn't feeling too well to begin with, as I'm still recovering from a pretty traumatic delivery but I managed to slowly make my way around the store gathering some essentials I needed. Then I got to the checkout, where some lady couldn't get her credit card to go through. Think she tried another card? No, instead the cashier turned on her blinking light and they proceeded to wait for a manager who didn't appear after 5 minutes. Thinking I could get through checkout more quickly in another line, I moved down to one with only one lady ahead of me. I loaded all my items on the belt before I realized what kind of a moron was in front of me. This lady had a full cart and wanted to pay for her items via several methods of payment. But mind you, she didn't want her total purchases to exceed $200 for some reason so once she saw the register at $204, she starting handing items back to the cashier to remove. Then, through broken English, she tried to explain to the cashier that she wanted $50 put on her credit card and that she would pay for the rest of the items with a check but she wanted a cell phone rung up separately. The cashier was confused but then again so was I, so I can't fault her for that. After swiping her credit card, writing out a check, having the cell phone rung up and discovering that she had now exceeded her limit on her credit card, the lady then wrote out a second check. Meanwhile, I'm starting to sweat profusely and get the shakes, probably from low blood sugar and overexerting myself, as I've pretty much laid in bed or around the house for the past week and can't handle all this exercise. Luckily, sweet Peyton was happily napping in his little car seat. When it was my turn, I paid for everything with just one method of payment and left the store with a new realization. I think my baby, who can't yet talk, walk or see more than a foot in front of his face, is already smarter than most of the people I've encountered today.
(A big thank you to Aunty Busty who filled in for me while I was giving birth. Peyton is a lucky boy to have such a crazy aunt!)

Baby Peyton: Day Two

Hello from a very proud Aunty Busty again. This will be my last update because the whole family will be home tomorrow and ready to do its own posting. After the excitement of Peyton's birth day, Day Two was extremely quiet.

Mama G. summed up with the day by saying, "We all took a nap together this afternoon. Mat was the only one who drooled though."

Proud grandparents from Papa G.'s side of the family will be headed down next week to meet the boy, while the grandparents on Mama G.'s side are already plotting their own trip. Peyton is the first grandchild on both sides of the family and everyone can't wait to meet him!

And Baby makes three!

Hello, it's Aunty Busty here (although you'll be shocked to learn that's not my real name). Wondering why I'm writing on the Gooch blog today? Well, read on (or just skip to the bold part for the gist of things...)

I've been answering all of Mama Gooch's calls for the last two weeks with, "Are you in labor?" And she has sighed and said, "No, not yet." So it was kind of poetic justice that I was woken up this morning and didn't think fast enough to say it when I answered her call... which happened to be the one time she would have answered with "yes."

Mama Gooch went into labor around 3 a.m. (and please don't ask her how she knew she was in labor because she told me and it's, uh, a little too gross to repeat...) And her son(!) was born 11 short hours later (OK, it felt short to me being a thousand miles away, but Mama G. says it didn't feel so short to her).

Peyton Mathew came crying into this world at 1:45 today, weighing 8 lbs, 8 ounces. Mama Gooch reports that "He is so cute." And Aunty Busty reports that he's loud because I could hear him clearly while on the phone with his mom.

Oh, and Mama G. did it without drugs. It wasn't by choice, mind you, because I think she would have gladly taken any sort of pharmaceutical assistance the nurses were offering, but she dilated too quickly to partake of anything stronger than some IV pain relievers.

And, now, the photos of the little man of the hour:

Insomnia

I've recently been plagued by random bouts on insomnia. Usually, I have no problem falling asleep but inevitably around 3:00 or 4:00am, I'm up and wide awake. It's amazing how much I can get accomplished in the wee hours of the morning when everyone else is slumbering but email and Facebook are only so much fun at that hour. I guess it's good practice for the sleepless nights that are to come, but still, I'd rather be catching my zzzzs! That is, if there's a place for me in bed.