15-week Doctor Visit

We just returned from our latest trip to the doctor. Everything is progressing normally and Laurie is feeling well. She has gained four pounds since we learned that we were pregnant. Her blood pressure was good. The Big U was ideal (inside joke). The baby's very strong pulse rate was 153 beats per minute. I got a warm fuzzy because this is about my heart rate during moderately strenuous runs. Apparently, this is a normal heart rate for the baby at this point. I guess babies do cardio training during this part of the pregnancy. Who knew.

We also scheduled an ultrasound for 8:30 am on Friday, August 25th. So, in less than one month we should know if it is a MacGregor or a Rawlings.

A couple of "old wives tales" updates:
1. We tied a hair from Laurie's head around her wedding band. Then, we dangled it over her belly. It went in a circular path almost immediately which means...(drum roll)...GIRL.

2. The heart rate at the doctor's visit was over 140, so that means...GIRL.

Two for two for a little lady. More old wives tale experiments forthcoming. We'll keep you posted.

That's all for now. Time to celebrate with a post-doctor visit pizza.

Play Ball!

Week 15 is upon us and this calls for a name change for little Fisticuffs Basham. The fetus is now about the size of a softball, so we like MacGregor for a boy and Rawlings for a girl. We just cannot decide.

Also, we have a routine doctor's visit on Thursday this week, so your prayers would be appreciated. Laurie's regular doctor is away this week, so she will be seeing someone different this time (the only time, hopefully). At our next visit at the end of August, we should find out if we are having a "MacGregor" or a "Rawlings!"

For documentation purposes, here is a picture of Laurie at Week 15. Not a lot of weight gain yet, but she did wash and fold all of her borrowed maternity clothes this weekend. That's a sure sign that something is happening.

Everybody Dance Now!

"Dance 'til you can't, dance 'til you can't, dance no more!"
~C+C Music Factory (1990)

As promised, Lil' Hen (no relation to Lil' Kim) gets funkdafied with Grandaddy's Adidas. Confused? Don't worry, you'll understand after viewing Henry's latest dance move. It conjures up images of former dancing glory at Mother's Day. Check out the Vance Moore Family Blawg archives to witness that dance party and get yourself primed for the new dance craze that's sweeping the nation.

This one is short and sweet, much like the H-Man. Be sure to listen for the duck noise at the end of the clip coming from Henry's animal picture phone. It sets it off.

Click here to see Lil' Hen do the Grandaddy Adidas Shuffle.

Henry Goes Bananas!

Laurie's brother Jason (thanks for the post title, J!) made a three day visit to Glasgow with our nephew, Henry Moses Vance. Mom (Amanda) was off on an environmental leadership conference in California, so it was just the men making this trek to Glasgow. Uncle Cort and Aunt Laurie were fortunate enough to spend the day Sunday and Monday evening with Henry, Jason, and proud grandparents Nana B. (Beverly), and Grandaddy (Donnie).

Little Henry was 1) traveling, 2) in the weaning process, 3) away from mom, 4) having a hard time sleeping, and 5) around a group of people he does not know extremely well just yet. This made it tough on the little guy, but he still found time to entertain us all with his sign language, new words, prolific consumption of bananas, dancing to just about any music or noise, and his penchant for wet, sloppy, open-mouth kisses on the cheek.

Have a look at some of his exploits. I have some exclusive dance video of Henry that I will try to post tomorrow. I am try to secure the rights to post it from MTV.

Daddy Jason teaches Henry the finer points of digital photography.















Aunt Laurie lures Henry away from Daddy with his favorite food: a "nanananananana."















Jason, Nana B., Cort, Henry (in backpack) and Grandaddy. Grandaddy was feeling the effects of his turn as Henry's pack mule.















Henry makes one of his many important calls.















Uncle Cort and Henry playing with a See 'N Say supplied by Aunt Brenda (not pictured). We learned animal noises and danced to "Old MacDonald" and "The Farmer and the Dell" at least 47 consecutive times. And it never got old.

He Knew the Game of Fisticuffs

Unless you, dear reader, are my brother or a huge fan of the band Primus, the title of this thread probably does not make a lot sense. But, it becomes a lot clearer when we realize that formerly peach-sized little Basham has grown to a fist-sized fetus this week. Now, fists come in all shapes and sizes, but we are talking about a Laurie-sized fist and not a George Foreman-sized one. Nevertheless, Fisticuffs Basham (what a GREAT name for a boxer, athlete, blues guitar player...or hardened criminal) is in the house--at least for week #14.

Also, I've messed around with Melissa and Ronnie's wedding pics and I think you can view a slideshow of 25 pictures right here. They consist of four themes in this order: the wedding, food, music, and the farm.

Thanks to the whole Basham/Preston extended family for a good time this weekend. Pictures with our nephew Henry (13 months old today!) and his daddy Jason coming tomorrow.

Graham-Reesor Wedding

We took a trip to Constantine (CON-sun-tyne), Kentucky, for the nuptials of Melissa Graham (Cort's cousin) and Ronnie Reesor. Aunt Penny and her husband David live on the old Preston family farm. It was an outdoor event in the hot July sun, but luckily there was a tent and a nice breeze to keep the heat somewhat tolerable. At the end of the day, a lot of wedding, eating, singing, and fun had taken place.

I'll try to create a slideshow of more photos later tonight or tomorrow.

Uncle Mike walking Melissa down the aisle.















Melissa and Ronnie taking their vows.














Cort and Laurie with very sweaty backs.















A very friendly polar bear (it belonged to bear-rasslin' cousin Jeff) that somehow managed the heat away from his usually icy environs. Humans include Toby and Tara (orange shirts), Cousin Jeff (no head, far left), family friend Gina (black shirt), and Cousin Steve (no head, far right). Oh, and the polar bear's name is Coda.
















The barn on the Preston farm where I spent many a Sunday afternoon. The yard near the barn (not visible) was a field for softball, football, soccer, tag, or whatever the game of the day might be. The result was always the same: severely grass-stained feet.

Scotland Via Evansville, IN?

First things first: little Lymon has abandoned her/his namesake. Laurie is in Week 13 of her pregnancy and the little one is now about the size of of small peach. So, we are changing the name to "Georgia." Little Georgia is growing at an alarming rate. This period of the pregnancy is when Laurie's appetite picks up due to the demand for calories (especially protein) for the rapidly expanding Georgia. For the Breckinridge County crew, you will probably notice a physical change in Laurie when you see her at Melissa and Ronnie's wedding this weekend. She is starting to show just the slightest bit. We took a "belly picture" (clothed, of course) but she looks almost normal, so we'll wait another month or so and then compare.


Secondly, my latest summer travels took me on a trip to Evansville, Indiana, with my friend Brice Boyer. On Sunday, we played a course that does not exactly fit in with the typical Midwestern landscape. The Cambridge Golf Club is a beautiful, Scottish links-style golf course carved out of a mammoth Indiana corn field. Think Field of Dreams, golf style. It was VERY challenging due to its wild undulations, pot bunkers, long gourse, and windy conditions. It was also neat that they did not move a ton of earth to build this course as is evident in the picture. One could almost pretend that they were at St. Andrews or Royal Troon. Of course, playing the old course at St. Andrews in Scotland costs 120 British pounds (that's $221!!!) for 18 holes. I got onto Cambridge in Evansville, IN, for the economical rate of $31. Hooray, corn!

More pics:















The fairway and line of bunkers protecting Hole 18.

Maters, Without the "Tuh"

Although this morning brought fall-like temperatures in the mid-50s, summer is definitely in full bloom. The Bowling Green farmer's market was rife with all sorts of goodies this morning, so Laurie and I bagged some potatoes, eggplant, squash, zucchini, and tomatoes for the upcoming week.

Speaking of tomatoes, our own little garden is starting to come on. It's funny, but little "Lymon" is probably growing at about the same rate as our little "green babies" this week (read: FAST). Also, if you have an organic solution to keep beetles from devouring basil plants, please post it in the comments. The basil is doing a great job keeping the insects from ravaging our precious toms (hordes of beetles on the basil--ZERO on the tomatoes!), but we would prefer to keep the basil as well. Here are some shots of our "other" babies. They are so cute at this age.

Falls and Fireworks

Recent travel update...

On June 22-25, Laurie and I took a trip to the Cumberland Falls (Burnside, KY) area with other Bashams. Activities included: eating an obscene amount of Laurie's monster cookies, fishing, swimming, golf, Scrabble-ing, pool running (just for Neal), lying in the sun/clouds, Western movie-watching, grilling, and repairing a flat tire (15 minutes flat! Pun intended.).

We then took a flying trip to Breck Co. this past weekend, came back to Bowling Green for a Redfoot show on Saturday, and visited Don and Bev Vance for a low-key July 4. This included a viewing of the newly released Superman movie which did not disappoint. Some pictures below show...


The Falls on a sun-drenched and brutally hot 95-degree day.



The Falls partially obscured by Cort's unkempt, humidity-and-wind-induced blond afro.


Laurie's brilliant idea for a raspberry Slush Puppie to help cool our jets.


One of our 371 games of Scrabble (from left: Neal (aka Uncle Dooney), Cort, Nikki, and Laurie)


Cort and Laurie's view of neighborhood fireworks last night after returning from their recent travels.


Enjoy your short week at work, everyone.

The Basham Blog Launch

Even if Discovery cannot launch until tomorrow, the Bashams are launching today. Actually, the primary motivation for this blog is the Currently Lime-Sized Basham that will launch in mid-January. "Limon" (apologies to Sprite) is currently 12 weeks along and this space will chronicle our journey toward January among other things.

We heard the heartbeat for the first time on Friday and it was thrilling. When waiting for a teeth-cleaning at the dentist's office, a two hour wait usually allows for a reading of any and all Dr. Suess books, 31 viewings of Headline News, three slow walks to and from the water fountain, five mental tirades about the ridiculousness of said wait, and a re-reading of Green Eggs and Ham just for good measure. But, hearing Limon's heartbeat made us immediately forget about the two hour delay.

We return to the doc in four weeks for a routine check up.

Cort