Today's the Day!

Today's the BIG DAY!! Are you as excited as me? (OK, probably not, but just humor me!)

If you live in Texas, today is the last day to vote in the Primary Race. It is a very close race this year - make your vote count!

Just want to remind everyone...

It an awesome PRIVILEGE that we are blessed to have as Americans - PLEASE don't take advantage of it.

If you have questions about any of the candidates or WHERE you go to vote, please email me and I will help you out.

I do have my strong views on "MY" particular candidate, but that's not important. I seriously think that what IS important is that YOU choose the candidate best suited for you and your views for the future of America. Having grown up in an extremely patriotic, political family, I FEEL VERY STRONGLY ABOUT THIS!! (Heck, I am consistently the minority vote in my family - but they still allow me, reluctantly, at family gatherings! hehehe)

Also, to those of you who have already early voted, don't forget that your vote can count twice in the great state Texas!! They are calling it the "Texas Two-Step" (kinda cute). You vote once, and then Caucus. (Show up at your Precinct voting place at/by 7:15 pm, put your name on a list, and your vote does count again!!) Let me know if you have questions about this as well.

Wish Jon and I luck as we take the boys out at 7:00 tonight to Caucus!

I LOVE this video! I think a lot of Texans can relate. I especially relate to the SAHM/Former Teacher/Pastor's Wife in Weatherford (which is very close to where I grew up - a pretty rural, conservative area). Check it out!

We "Ba-ROCKED the Vote" and Then Had Another Scare

Jacob and Caleb made it through their first election process!
(All of us after casting our ballots)

After Jon got off work Friday, we headed out to Keller Town Hall to early vote in the 2008 Democratic Primary. We made it there at 6:40 - 20 minutes before the polls closed - to see a huge line. This actually made me quite happy, seeing the large turn out!

The only worry was these two little munchkins... (Notice how Mommy dressed them for their first election!)

Luckily you must be IN LINE by 7:00, not have voted. So we waited and waited...

And finally made it into the polling room!

Jacob was talkative as we entered the voting room, so Daddy had to remind him that, as much as he wanted to get his last word in to the other voters about Barack Obama, no campaigning is allowed where folks are casting ballots!


And WE DID IT! Here are Daddy and the worn out boys afterward.

And then with Mommy, wearing a tight red sweater to show off "Baby S!"

To celebrate (and because it sounded good to "Baby S"), we then headed to CiCi's Pizza where the boys each had a slice of spinach pizza. (Even thought they both had pasta with tomato sauce and cheese, carrots, and blueberry sauce right before we left to go vote!)


It was a bit little chaotic, but, hey, that's just our life!

We look forward to attending (boys allowing) the caucus Tuesday night. Wish us luck on that one!!


THEN last night at 5:30 am, I ended up at the Baylor Grapevine ER. This pregnancy has been more "dramatic" in the last few weeks than my supposed high-risk twin pregnancy! What the heck?!

Without giving "TMI," Baby and I are both FINE, however I still have a catheter in (yes, while I am at home). My flow of urine was completely obstructed, it seems - they think and WE HOPE - from all of the constipation I have been having. Basically, I CANNOT urinate AT ALL without a catheter. That is why I woke up at 3:00 am in excruciating pain - I have to go really, REEEAAALLLY BAD, but can't.

No, I've never heard of such a thing either, but, well, there you have it! Crazy, crazy!

I REALLY looked pregnant when I went into the ER, and after they immediately drained 2 liters of urine, the "baby bump" deflated again.

Not sure why all of this unbelievably crazy stuff keeps happening...

I go back on Monday after the whole "clean out process" this weekend. They'll try to remove the catheter, keep me there a while, and see what happens.

Jon said maybe this little one is in fact a girl, and she is a real Drama Queen!! Whatever the case is, little one needs to STOP IT!!!

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!

A year ago this week in Seastrunk Family History...

Want to see something crazy?

Here was me a year ago this week...


YIKES! You thought that was bad - now check out the BARE BELLY SHOT!



Oh, SNAP!! I mean, OUCH! That HAD to have hurt, however (fortunately) God has blocked that from my mind, as I do not recall much pain/discomfort. Look back at the above picture: do you notice the lines on my tummy from the sheets/egg crate? Notice they are specifically to my left side - where I was about 20 hours of the day!

You can also see my legs starting to swell and get beet red. This is about the time my blood pressure began to jump...

Let's fast forward about two more weeks...

THIS is why I was so stinkin' HUGE!

Go ahead and say it.... awwwww!! Yes, I know, they were/are cute. ;-)

These are my baby boys in the hospital. Jacob Alan came out at 7 lbs, 12.5 ozs and Caleb Luke came out right behind him at 7 lbs, 2 ozs. If I am doing my math right, that is 14 lbs, 14.5 ozs - almost 15 lbs of JUST baby! Not to mention: two huge, healthy placentas (from what the delivering doc said), lots of blood and other fluid, etc, oh, and the occasional banana split!


Now look at this one. This was me at about 7 weeks. I was excited that I was starting to already "show!"


I look at this silly picture and say to myself, "girlfriend, you didn't even KNOW what showing was yet!!" Jon is in there with me because he agreed that he too could see a very slight "bulge" on my tummy, but that he was "showing" more that me. hehehe

Fun looking back...