Monday, April 02, 2007

Burning the 4 am oil is so fun...

Greetings from the pregnant insomniac. I awoke at 2:30am for my normal bathroom run and couldn't get back to sleep- now it is 4:20am... Will we see a baby today? No contractions, just insomnia. Anyway, a cracker, a forkful of peanut butter and a sudoko puzzle later, here I sit, smelling the odor of a skunk who must have wandered by outside.



Well, yesterday was April Fool's Day. For a joke Dennis and I decided to call my mom and tell her that we had a baby girl! Dennis did the talking to make it more convincing. He told her that we named her Olivia Patricia. My mom really, really dislikes the name Olivia and isn't afraid to let me know whenever the topic of names comes up (you can even look at her comment on the last blog for proof). But her response was quite gracious, "Ohhhh, how nice." Hahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa! Oh, it was so funny. Fortunately she thought so too after we confessed. :) Thanks for the laugh, Mom.

The next April Fool's type event of the day was a joke on us! We were driving to church in our van when we ran out of gas right on the busiest street in town. We puttered as far as we could and then stuck it in neutral while poor Dennis pushed the van off the road into a nearby parking lot. At the last moment two people jumped out and helped him finish pushing. Then he had to hike to the nearest gas station and haul back a tank of gas. Poor guy! Some people we know were passing by and picked him up on his way back to the van. We were laughing at ourselves for letting this happen so close to when the baby comes! Can you imagine if that had happened on the way to the hospital?! Thank You, Lord!!!
Since next Sunday is Easter I dressed the girls up yesterday- I'm not sure what will be happening next Sunday!

11 comments:

Jean said...

I noticed your very early comment on my new blog. You really were having an insomnic night. If the contractions don't get going I hope you can get a few cat naps today. I'd gladly come and watch the girls if I was just around the corner.

Squeaky looks so springy in that yellow dress with white top. the hat and handbag set it off just great.

Is Button's outfit a one piece or a dress & coat? She is so cute too.

Oh, yes your Mom called me yesterday with the same information that Dennis had given her earlier in the morning. I took it for truth until she said "April fool".

Love, A. Jean

Anonymous said...

Val, you look so sweet in your belly shot. I laughed so hard about the "Olivia" joke! I guess my guess was wrong since the baby didn't come yesterday....but I didn't know about name issue when i suggested Oliver... Sorry Mom, but I just like the name. Dave wouldn't let me use it, though.

Val, very soon you will be lost in the euphoria of your sweet baby's face!!!! I will be praying for you today. :)

I love jokes and pranks; yet Dave and I couldn't even think of a good one to play on the kids. We must be getting old... :(

Des

Anonymous said...

laughed really hard at a comment from your last post... if your mom doesn't like oli names just stick to liver.... Oh ho ho!! That's a good one. :)Love you, hope to see you and the new babe in a few days Patti

Anonymous said...

Patti-Patricia Ann--You may name your little boy or girl Liver or Livy. Just don't wish it on the pretty face of one of my grandchildren. However, if the Lord leads my kids to use a name like that, I will acquiesce. That little one would be just and special and dear (perhaps SPECIAL) as any of the rest. Ha. Val's Mom

Anonymous said...

Dear Mrs. Van E.,(Patricia Ann),
spoken like a true Grandma, :)
I'm pretty sure there's not much chance of them choosing Liver... I sure know I haven't got it on a short list for my future children :) I wouldn't wish it on one of your cute grandchildren, or one of my neices or nephews :) Your're right it would take an especially special child to be able to live with a name like that.
As for the Patricia part... I always liked that name just had trouble getting anyone to call me that except in a Dr's office or on a government paper.
have a great day
Patti

HopiQ said...

Thank you for signing my guest book! And thank you for sharing the verse.

I'm trying not to be impatient! My babies take their own sweet time. :) With my last, being eight days past my due date, and VERY impatient, I took some caster oil mixed into a tolerable consistency with OJ concentrate and ice. It got things going! I'm not sure if that's what I'll end up doing this time or not. I guess I will be thinking about it more seriously if it gets to be the weekend and no baby yet.

I will be checking in to find out if you had your baby! And I LOVE all your adorable pics! Your kids are too cute.

Anonymous said...

Dear Patti,
Since this is our place of contact, and we're discussing names, I was interested in your take on your own name. I am Patricia Anne. As a child I was called "Patty" which I didn't like after I got older. As a 12 or 13 year old, I asked to be called "Pat". That has stuck, as you say with the exception of Dr. offices, and business stuff. Well, I can remember saying that I didn't even like "Patricia", because it sounded too fancy, and I think mostly because my folks gave all my sibilings names starting with "J" and I was Jealous. Valerie remembers me saying that I did not like Patricia, so the combo of Olivia Patricia was a dart sent to strike me. I have been convicted of my sin of not liking Patricia, and I really do like my name. It is good reading your comments. I have some really cute pictures of your kids on my screen saver, which Valerie had put on some time back. Yours in Christ, Pat, Patty, Patricia Anne Van Essen.

Anonymous said...

Again this one is for Mrs. Van Essen,
Hi again,
I always liked my name. The Ann was Ganny's middle name. In my late teens and onward I often called her Granny Ann and she called me Patti Ann. It was kind of fun to share a name with her I thought. My one question about it to my mom was how she dared leave the e off the end after reading the Anne of Green Gables books :) The only form of my name I don't like is Pat. Mostly because there was a boy, Dennis's age, at the chapel named Patrick. At first he was Paddy then Pat as he got older. I just never wanted anyone getting the two of us mixed up in conversation. To me then, Pat was a boy's name. I know it's not but that's how I felt about it.
I was called Patti (with the i) right from the beginning. Well... once they finally decided on a name...it took them a few weeks. Even my birth announcement from the newspaper says Patti.
I can understand you feeling left out if all your siblings were J's. Are you the youngest? Do you think your parents just ran out of J names they liked.
Anyway I'm glad you and I have the same name. :) It was a good ice breaker for conversation the summer of 2000 when we visited your home.
I enjoy reading your comments here too. It helps me think about what Bruce's parents' are missing (and might like to be filled in on )being 15 hours away. They don't have a computer so we don't get to do this with them. We send them videos sometimes and pictures and talk on the phone but I don't think it's quite the same.
Guess I better stop hogging the space. Take care.
Patti

Thanks, Valerie, for allowing me a chance to visit with your mom today.

Anonymous said...

This is Valerie. Blogger is giving me problems signing in.

No problem you Patricias- hog my comment section all you want. :)

Aunt Jean, Button's outfit is a dress and a little coat to match. It is really cute and suits her just fine. Squeaky probably wouldn't have looked as good in those bright colors, she is more suited to pastels. It is fun to dress them up. (Just another perk to parenting...) :)

Hope- I've heard of the castor oil thing but it sounds a bit rough... I don't know if I could do it. Ask me in another week! :) I know the feeling of desperation that drives us to do these things!! :)

The Mom said...

Val... castor oil worked for me but under 3 strict rules:

My midwife oversaw the "prescription"

I was already dilated to 3-4

I drank half the bottle over a period of specific time

It was very effective but you have to be in the right criteria for it to work. And if it doesn't work, it's too bad because it's not the kind of experience to go through and soon forget. :)

I'll be praying for your delivery! I've heard those 3rd borns can be a bit tricky to tell when they want to come but then BANG! they decide NOW is the time and just like that, they're here. (that's my midwife's experience anyway.) I have a 3rd born cooking right now too so I think of you especially during this time. Take care and I'm staying tuned for new updates. :)

Jean said...

This seems to be a very busy blog this morning.

Val, if you don't get busy today in the L & D area you can spend your leisure time reading all the comments. Of course S & B will have some influence on your activities.

I am one of the J's in Pat, Patty, Patricia Anne F. VE's family and I sure don't understand why not being a J should ever have bothered her. Being a J she might have very easily been called one of the other J names by mistake. Once I arrived in Canada I found that my name could be either male or female - with some difference in pronounciation.

Say Val, is there a way to get the computer to spell check when you are writing in these comment boxes? The spell check is a real help to me.

Love & prayers (especially for a safe L & D), A. Jean