Rock the Vote!

My name is Amber Seastrunk, and I approve this message...

Don't forget...

Get off of your... AND VOTE!!

(Please, someone tell me you got my subliminal little icons...
Elephants are known to not forget...
And a donkey is also called an ....
And, yes, I know, I AM a nerd!)

This year is proving to be quite an exciting race!! I'm lovin' it! Jon and I are taking the boys out to early vote tonight. Granted, they won't be able to actually VOTE, but it will be fun to expose them to the process now.

I remember "working" in Headquarters of candidates who were friends of my Gran as a little girl, probably around seven years old. I would lick envelopes and stamps, greet people at the door, and any other thing they could find to keep an overly-excited little girl busy. My favorite part was election night, staying up "late" to watch the polls and see if "my" candidate won. Perhaps it's because my family is very political, but, for me, this was all so fun! I also remember getting to go to the candidate's house on one occasion - I believe it was Election Night after the polls closed - to "celebrate." All I remember is having cake and punch, participating in a toast, and I think I wore a denim dress with a ridiculously huge red, white, and blue bow in my hair.

But I digress...

Whether you're an elephant or a donkey, get out there tonight to early vote, or head out with the crowd on Tuesday, March 4th to cast your oh so important vote!

Paid for by, uhhh, I guess Jon Seastrunk, my husband, since he works to pay our bills, including the internet connection. *wink, wink*

Google Reader

Another thing to note:

I am not sure how many people in the "blog-world" know about Google Reader. If you blog and have more than one blog/website that you often check, it's totally the way to go!

Go to: reader.google.com

(You may need to sign in with your google/gmail ID.)

From there, on the left hand column you should see a green box that says "Add Subscription." Click on it, and you can then type in a link for the blog or site you what to follow.

Repeat with all of your links. You can do this for not only blogs, but also news sites, etc.

Once a day or so, check it, and EVERYONE who has updated with be marked!

Too cool... and MUCH easier than trying to check everyone one by one.

Enjoy, and, of course, let me know if you have questions.

"Baby S"

Proverbs 22:1 -

A good name is more desirable than great riches;
to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

I think a person's name speaks a lot about them. Unfortunately, each person has absolutely no say in his or her name, so I think one of the biggest gifts parents can give their child(ren) is a good, strong name.

We named our boys Jacob Alan and Caleb Luke, and these names have really seemed to fit them! I couldn't not see our Jacob being a "Caleb," nor could I see our Caleb being named "Jacob." They just work with them, their faces, and their personalities. Funny how that works.

Caleb and Jacob are both Biblical (Old Testament) and just sound like good, strong names. Jacob and Esau were the first twins mentioned in the Bible. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the name "Esau" to grow on us! We also thought Caleb and Joshua would be a good combo since they were the two faithful of the twelve leaders that lead the children of Israel to the Promised Land of Canaan. They were as close as brothers, and both known for their strength, zeal, and obedience to God. BUT… we liked Jacob better than Joshua. We also liked how, with the boys being twins, the names just kind of fit together. (Same number of letters, same number of syllables, both ending in "b.") Alan is my dad's name, and, especially since he didn't have a boy, we thought it'd be nice to honor him that way. Luke is my mom's maiden name. My grandpa Luke had ALL GIRLS, so his name also didn't get passed on either. Thus… Jacob Alan and Caleb Luke!

Well, my friends, the time has come to start thinking about a name for "Baby S."

Jon and I have a few girl and boys names that we like, but welcome any thoughts/suggestions. We would like to keep with the same trend: good, strong, traditional names - ideally Biblical names- that are not difficult to spell or pronounce (come on, with a last name like "Seastrunk," we have to make the first and middles names as simple as possible).

Any thoughts? We welcome ALL ideas and/or comments!

Speaking of the little angel, here are a few pics of the recent progress of Momma and Baby:

Momma at 14 Weeks - Still can't tell much from this picture, but in person you can start tell something's up! (I am still at the stage where people may ask "Is Amber pregnant, or did she just let herself go a little over the holidays... and it ALL went straight to her tummy?")

Here's "Baby S" on my birthday, 02/20/08, during his/her big scare!
(See below post to know about "the scare." Also notice the text - "Happy Birthday Mom!")

As an update, I am still bleeding a little today - Sunday. Pray that it stops SOON so I can rest a little easier. ("Baby S" pulled this on Christmas Eve/Christmas and then also my birthday - it is looking like he/she is going to be quite a little "toot.")

"Baby S" and I from a different view - outside. Ignore the dead looking rose bushes. In a month or two they will be in full bloom with beautiful pink roses - I'll get a prettier shot then!

In this sono pic it is difficult to tell a lot, but she was trying to get a picture of "Baby S"
kicking like crazy. This little guy/girl was quite a show off!

A closer view of the tummy.

The best for last - here is THE BEST sonogram picture of "Baby S" we have gotten thus far!

And a cute one of Jon playing "artsy-fartsy-photographer!"

As with the boys, you know there will be many more cute shots to come as the belly expands more!

And remember, we go March 21st (Good Friday!) so have the "Big Sonogram," so be on the lookout for more baby pictures and the "big announcement." If y'all give us some good suggestions, we may even have a name picked out by then too!

OK, OK, I KNOW it's been a while!

So, don't you love the "things have been crazy around here excuse?"

All is really going along well this way. The boys celebrated their first birthday on February 4th. We didn't have a big party for them THIS YEAR, just our immediate family for some dinner and cake. I made the cakes, so they weren't exactly professional, but the boys sure didn't seem to mind a bit! Here are a few pics from the night:

The cakes that Mommy made

Birthday Boy - Jacob

Birthday Boy - Caleb (Always looks like he's up to something!)

The Fam - no, they weren't too big on the hats!

Mommy and Daddy making wishes for the boys

Although we learned that Caleb is going to be a little pyro!

Of course, Jacob loved his cake because, well, Jacob loves all good food...

... And Caleb got a sugar rush, because, well, Caleb gets rushes...


BTW, that's a line from one of my ALL TIME favorite movies!!! Well, not EXACTLY the line...

Anyone recognize it?

"Anyone, anyone..."
(another great line from Faris Bueller, but I digress... I am indeed a movie quoter...)

A bigger hint:
"Billy Bob cried because he is a bit of a crier.
Tweeder drank beer because, well... Tweeder drinks beer."

OK, it's Varsity Blues...

I'll continue with what you're REALLY here for... pics of my beautiful children!

Caleb loved the cake too, and actually picked it up like a big boy!

Check out poor Abby on the floor, trying to get in on the action

"I'm gonna eat every... last... bite, Momma!"

"Momma wouldn't give us more, so I'm licking the plate clean!"

A classic: Daddy's pooped - Caleb is wired, ready for the party to start!

Jacob and Momma having a little quite time before bed

Baby Seastrunk is still growing well! Our appointment on February 7th (was that the 7th? I think so...) went great. There was really nothing to note. Weight same, blood pressure same, the dopler picked up still one good, strong heart beat. Just rocking along!!

UNTIL... last night when we had a bit of a scare. I started bleeding a bit. This morning it was persisting, so I called the doctor's office first thing at 8:00, and they told me to come in NOW. Well, due to making arrangements for the boys, I couldn't get there until 9:30.

Long story short, I had a sono, saw the amazing Dr. White, and all is FINE. (There is a small bleed that they are watching, but it all looks benign.) The baby still had a great, strong heart beat on the sonogram and is measuring about 13 weeks, 5 days - I am 13 weeks, 5 days today! We got some great pics!

As the sonographer was putting my info in the computer, she noticed that TODAY is my birthday. (Yes, happy birthday to me!) She felt terrible that all this crap happened ON MY BIRTHDAY, so she printed a few for me - including one where the baby profile is saying "Happy Birthday Mom." Awww... (I'll try to get those pics scanned and up SOON!)

The scary thing? I am not suppose to be lifting more than 20 lbs right now; my boys are 24 lbs each and not walking yet. The doctor and I talked about it, and he is confident that, as long as I use good discretion and keep all lifting to an absolute minimum, the baby and I will be fine.

On a lighter note - I could be wrong, as I am just a nurse and not a sonographer - I THINK I am having another boy. I asked the sonographer if she saw "something," but she just grinned and refused to answer, saying "it's still too early to tell anything 100%!" She then asked what my twins were and, when I told her two boys, she just started laughing. She totally knows something and is holding out on me!!

We'll find out FOR SURE on March 21st.

Jon, Caleb, Jacob, Baby, and I ask for your prayers that all continues progressing with the pregnancy as beautifully as it has thus far.

I'll soon try to work on a tummy pic and the sonogram pics.

Anyway, I think I am going to have some of my birthday cake now since it is STILL OFFICIALLY MY DAY!