Raising Monkeys

Picture Post

2010-03-25T21:12:00.001-07:00

Maddox's 3rd Birthday

2010-02-22T12:08:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of Maddox's 3rd birthday party. He had 6 friends come and we had such a fun time! We did it at our church because our house a little small for a wild kid gathering.

He's got his gifts packed and ready to go. He hated having to wait for us to clean up!

I can't believe he's already 3! It has been 3 VERY fun years!

Fun With the Kids

2010-02-11T10:55:00.000-08:00

This is a short video of Maddox and Juliette's favorite past time. I just wish it was as simple as that...

Each time they get to one side of the house they have to have me come and turn them around. Juliette never wants the game to end.

I have to say that I love that they are playing together, it's very sweet.

A New Year

2010-01-01T19:36:00.001-08:00

It's a new year and I've been thinking a lot. Maybe way more than I ought...but, those thoughts are there none-the-less.

I want this year to be FULL! Full of fun, family, adventure, creativity and happiness.

I become to discouraged when I think of all the money we don't have. But, I'm trying very hard this year to thankful for what we do have and to enjoy life with all of that fullness.

When I talk about full, I don't mean busier. I want to enjoy my kids A LOT. They are growing up so quickly (Maddox is going to be 3! *gasp*) and I want to enjoy them the very most.

So, what does this mean for me?
1. It means getting organized. Very very organized and working on a daily moment by moment basis to keep it tidy and organized. We've been in this house for a year now and it has everything that we need and I love it. It's just taken me a year to figure out what works and doesn't in the space that we have.

2. It means running less errands during our week days (Monday-Thursday). When I run too many errands, I spend money I shouldn't on things I don't need. So, I'll menu plan and grocery shop once a week on Kyle's day off so I can stay focused and remember everything that I need in that one trip. On our week days home, I plan to take the kids out of the house on fun walking trips (who cares if we get a little wet!). I'd like to walk to the library and go on nature walks to look at all of the beautiful nature that we have around us.

3. It means spending quality time with Maddox and Juliette. I want to start teaching Maddox his alphabet and numbers and I want to read 3 good books (not little board books) to them every day.

4. I want to create more. I love having my Etsy shop and I would love to expand it to include other things than just kids hats.

That is where my thoughts have been and I'm sure that they will include many more things over the next few weeks.

This N' That

2009-11-10T12:52:00.001-08:00

Grandma and Juliette

Great-Grandpa Zutter and Maddox

Great Grandpa Zutter, Grandma, Maddox and Juliette

Juliette, Grandma, Maddox and Grandpa enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Juliette sporting her new hat and some of Grandma's glitz.

Maddox feeding the ducks

Juliette and Grandma

Grandpa and Juliette

Grandma and Juliette

Maddox sporting his new back pack waiting for the air plane

Happiness

2009-10-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say that my early hour awaking is a habit! I only slept in until 8 one day and that felt like such a treat :-) The disappointing part is is that Maddox has woken up around the same time as me 4 days in a row. Maybe I need to start getting up earlier. *gasp* I'm not ready for that!

The toys have even mostly been put away at the end of each day, too!

Hm..now it's time to incorporate something else. The next thing I'm going to tackle is after breakfast completely cleaning the kitchen. I tend to leave it half done because the kids need to be dressed and played with, etc. So, here's to completely cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast, including sweeping the floors and spot mopping! The same will go for after dinner. I don't just want the dishes done, I want everything wiped down and "company ready"!

Here it goes!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

Chugging Along

2009-10-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

7am doesn't seem to be coming quite so quickly and difficult any more. I'm actually starting to wake up on my own about then, so it's getting easier every day! I didn't let myself sleep in on Friday or Saturday! I will in a few weeks, but for now, I'm going to push through.

I've started drinking tea again. Nom, nom, nom :-) It makes my heart happy. I just need to remember to drink decaf or herbal after 6pm! We drank some with dinner at around 7pm the other night and neither of us could fall asleep. Oops. I need to go stock up on some new flavors for the winter. Does anybody recommend any?

I don't remember the last time I had such a full schedule, but I'm really thriving in it. Keeps me motivated knowing that I have places I need to be at certain times. I'm doing the Beth Moore Daniel study on Tues. at 10am with a wonderful group of women of all ages. I'm leading a small group with some high school girls one day a week, every other week I have play group at the church 2 mornings a month and that's a blast (the kids are actually playing SO well together this year because they're a bit older) and then one morning a month I have a Women's Ministry team meeting. A bonus is is that most of what I do have some great friends participating, so I get to see them 2-3 days a week!

Alright, off to shower before the kids wake up!

This is the Point at Which...

2009-10-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

I WANT TO GIVE UP!!!

I have successfully gotten up early 5 DAYS IN A ROW and now, I'm tired and want to give up. I was tempted to let myself sleep in tomorrow, but I'm resisting the urge because I want this to be a habit and I don't want to undo what I've done the last 5 days. I know I'm just tired because my body isn't used to this.

It's an amazing feeling being completely ready for the day before the kids wake up. I love it! I have felt so refreshed all week in that aspect. Most days before bed I've gotten all the toys picked up, too. So that's huge for me, too.

Yeah for healthy habits!

Healthy Habits

2009-10-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

I feel disorganized a lot and then I try to become more organized and run more effectively. On Sunday I make a list of how I want my days to run (wake up early, make beds, sweep floor, etc. etc.). Monday morning hits and I don't get my shower before the kids wake up and whammo, my schedule is out the window because I'm not 3 steps behind. I try to bite off too much new stuff at once.

I'm going to start incorporating one healthy new morning habit and one healthy new evening habit every few weeks so that over time I'm more where I want to be.

To start, I'm going to start getting up early and getting a shower before the kids get up. It's huge for me to get my day started off right. I'm going to start setting my alarm for 7am. I know it doesn't seem that early and it's not, but it's better that I set my alarm for 7am and have a chance to wake up instead of being woken up between 7:30 and 8 with a little 2 year old in my face. That makes me kinda grumpy.

My evening habit will be to have all of the toys put away before Maddox goes to bed. Again, not a huge thing, but it helps me to relax after he's in bed and it helps me to feel better when I wake up to a clean house

So, here it goes! 7am wake up calls and toys put away! If I find I need my wake up call to be ealier then that I'll bump it up in a few weeks. Gradual is good.

Life

2009-10-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm not good at this whole blogging thing...

I'm going to keep popping on here to do updates on the family only. I'm not a writer and I don't want to be...I just want people to know what's going on with the kids and us.

I just got home from a women's retreat yesterday and it was really nice. There were just 19 of us and it was perfect. Had a great time with everybody and the speaker was great, spoke right to my heart. She spoke on the callings that God puts on our hearts and how to have faith to slowly get there. Very refreshing, just wish I could have left Juliette home with daddy!

I've decided to quit reading blogs of people I don't know except a few that I read for good deal finding and healthy living. I think it's like soap operas and I get sucked into needing to know every detail of their lives and really it doesn't matter! Just a waste of time for me. It's hard and sometimes tempting to pop on to look at them, but I'm trying really hard not to.

The kids are doing great. Maddox's language development in the last few weeks has blown me away. He's says things in full complete sentences and is often saying words I didn't know he knew! He's starting saying "I love you, too" when we tell him that we love him. My favorite thing ever has got to be when he comes running up to me with arms open wide and says in the saddest voice, "I need a hug!"

Juliette is almost crawling. She's a very determined little girl and definitely wants things done her way. She's currently picking on her brother who is trying to sleep (he's on the floor, it's his fault ;-) .

Today

2009-09-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

It's a blistery 73 degrees in my house this morning and I'm indulging in a cup of Sencha tea. Yum! Did I mention I've been up since 6am? That was sleeping in compared to what I expected when Maddox fell asleep for the night at 6pm completely missing dinner. Juliette has been my 6am waker most recently, but the last few days it's been 8ish! Why ever can't they be on the same schedule!?!

As I was sitting here in my early morning awake-ness I picked up my most recent Parents magazine that I had yet to read. One article in particular caught my attention "39 Things Every Mom Should Know". I thought I'd share a few that made me giggle (only because I KNOW first-hand on most of these).

3. Do your chores while kids are awake. Using up naptime to wash dishes or clean the toilet is truly soul crushing.

5. If the kids are awake, bit the bullet an be awake yourself. You'll waste so my hours trying futilely to extend early-morning snoozes that it's not worth it.

6. Just throw away the poopy underwear.

7. Don't beat yourself up if you have to use a bribe.

9. Buy cheap shoes when kids are little. Feet grow faster than you think. (Emily here: except in the case of Maddox's summer Keens...best $26 I spent! Great shoes and I can resell them on Ebay for what I paid for them :-)

15. Answer this question: What is the worst thing that can happen if your kids sleep in their clothes? (Nothing. Happened 3 times this week)

17. Try to like what they like. It kind of sucks when it's Bob the Builder, but the payoff will come when they discover Lemony Snicket.

19. If your child falls asleep occasionally without brushing his teeth, don't wake him; baby teth do eventually fall out. (Again, I know this first hand...happened 3 times this week)

26. Don't administer a punishment that hurts you more than it does them.

32. Buy quaint wooden toys and hand-knit stuffed animals, but don't expect your kids to play with them.

34. Teach them to like cool music. Why suffer through The Wiggles?

36. Give awards for actual achievements.

39. Independence is a wonderful thing. For everyone. So is together time. Make sure you have a healthy does of both.

by Kacy Faulconer

Hat Giveaway!

2009-09-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

I just opened my first Etsy store, MJ Hat Shop, and as a GRAND OPENING I'm giving away one of my handmade crochet hats to a lucky winner! These are original hats that I created the patterns for and they have been child-tested on my own two wonderful kids.

I am a stay-at-home mom and I love spending time with my kids everyday! In the evening when the kids are in bed I love to crochet. I decided to open an Etsy store as a creative outlet.

Make sure you check my shop often as I'm adding new styles of hats all the time!

Details:

-Go visit my Etsy shop and in the comments section of this post tell me which one is your favorite (if you win, you can choose a different one)
-Make sure you leave your e-mail address in the comment (this is just the way I'll contact the winner, I won't put you on a mailing list)
-One entry per person, per day
-This giveaway is open until Saturday, Sept. 12 at 12 noon.
-I will use random.org to determine the winning comment.

Best of luck to you!

So I Have This Sister...

2009-09-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

We're not actually blood related, but I think I've known her for about 10 years and she's been apart of my family for over 7. She's a very influential person in my life. She e-mails me with cute pictures and before you know it, she's talked me into making things for her...

Like these owls:

And this squirrel:

And this flag garland:

And, I've even made her one of these (not these colors, Shel):

I'm a self-taught crocheter and knitter. It's amazing what you can find on Youtube. Shelley challenges a special piece of my brain. The part that needs follow patterns and count my stitches(like the owls and squirrels) and to entirely make up my own patterns (in the case of the garland and apple cozy).

One thing I've learned is that I have to write down the patterns that I am making up as I go along or else when I sit down again to work, I've completely forgotten what I was doing. I always think I'll remember, but I don't.

I'm Baaaack!

2009-08-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Haven't heard from me in awhile, eh? Now that we've got Flickr hooked up to the family site, I don't have to spend all my time and energy posting pictures 5 at a time!

Hm...now what to write about...

Photos!!!

2009-08-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Maddox-isms-Updated

2009-08-06T11:56:00.001-07:00

I share these things so that they are documented and won't be forgotten.

Maddox has a phenomenal vocabulary but sometimes he chooses generic words to mean a lot of different things.

Here are some of them:

"Grandma"- Grandma OR Grandpa
"Auntie" -Aunt OR Uncle (it sounds like, "Auntie Tyler". Sorry, Ty!)
"Swing" -Any activity on the playground
"Bee" -Any type of bug
"Boycycle" -Motorcycle, bike, tricycle
"Hungwy" -Hungry or thirsty (usually thirsty)

I'll post the newest photos soon!

Maddox 2 Yrs. 5 Mo. Juliette 4 Mo.

2009-07-08T18:06:00.001-07:00

Maddox the pirate.

Fun in the sun.

Asleep on the couch after a long day in the pool.

Trying out the Bumbo seat.

4th of July

4th of July parade

Juliette and me at the 4th of July parade.

Pirate Maddox doing his pirate puzzle.

Asleep on the floor last night...long day and no nap!

Pretty much the coolest car I've ever seen and I want one.

My kiddos being cute :-)

The sweetest picture I've ever gotten of both of them together. Love it!

My goof.

Training to be a model (yeah, right!)

That's our girl...always has her tongue sticking out.

My 2 cuties.

June 2009 Photos

2009-06-24T13:18:00.001-07:00

"Baby Pooh Bear"

No-napping Maddox means many evenings of falling asleep on Daddy.

Couldn't get Maddox to put the cup down...stinker.

Thumb-sucking.

Meg and Juliette

June 2009 Photos Cont.

2009-06-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Gramma and Maddox

Visit from Gramma

Beats me.

Huh?

Hm...cool giraffe.

The cutest I've gotten of Maddox is a very long time, what a cutie!

Giddy around Gramma!

Conked out.

Sporting a cool hair-do today!

Beautiful day to go to the park, today!

Juliette sporting her Australian dress. Thanks, Hannah!

I think it's the best picture I've gotten of the 2 of them and it's not even that good!

Juliette 3 1/2 months!

I Love My 2 Year Old Edition

2009-06-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

He always makes me smile :-)

Currently, he's hiding his "Pooh Bear" and then he's walking around the house looking for him saying, "Is he in here? Noooo.... Is he in here? Nooo..." and the finds him after a few minutes of searching. This is how we play hide-and-go-seek with him. So stinkin' cute! He mimics a lot of what we do and I think it's adorable.

Now, "Pooh Bear" is "Baby Pooh Bear" and is all wrapped up in a "manket" ie. blanket. He's carrying him around and putting him to bed. So cute!

I have to admit, he does have "2 year old moments" around here, but for the most part he's just plain fun!

Juliette 2 Months/ Maddox 2 years

2009-06-02T22:04:00.001-07:00

Engineer Maddox

Fun in the sun.

Carefree.

Maddox loves to play with balls.

Grandma and Juliette, can you see the resemblance?

Waiting for the airplane when we went to Boise.

First band aid experience. Less than impressed.

Silly girl.

Pretty girl.

Confused Girl.

Indeed, those my shoes Maddox was trying to wear out the door.

I love my 2 year old to bits!

2 Months Old

When I takes pictures of Maddox he always wants to see the finished result on the back, so he gets really close when I take pictures :-)

Newest Pictures

2009-04-24T23:31:00.001-07:00

Maddox is very cute and into when Daddy wears a hat, he needs to wear one, too.

Sunday, we went to the park with 5 other families after church and Maddox was a little excited!

Miss Juliette 6 Weeks old!

This is what happens when Maddox decides to play during naptime rather than sleeping. I find him asleep at around 5pm.

2 Year Old Funnies

2009-04-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

"moin" = "more"

"shoose-on" = "shoes"

"boy"= "Maddox", when referring to himself.

"bot" or "soccer" = baseball

"choo choo" = "train"

"Judidette" = "Juliette"

"Dampa" = "Grandma" and/or "Grandpa" (same word for both)

"nouche" = sandwich

Juliette- One Month

2009-04-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Here's some new ones of Juliette! She's 5 weeks old now, can't hardly believe it! I even caught a smile today!!!

I'm 43 in Wii Years...

2009-04-10T21:45:00.001-07:00

Ouch, that hurts.

Kyle bought me Wii Fit for my birthday and apparently in Wii years, I'm 43.

I guess I need to regain my youth!

Withdrawal

2009-04-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

I'm having a Target withdrawal. I haven't stepped foot in a Target store in over 5 weeks! (Actually that's not entirely true, when Kyle's dad was here he needed batteries, so we entered the store, he grabbed batteries at the check-out and we left.) I know, I know *gasp*. I'm feeling it today. I "need" a Target fix. I "need" to go to Costco (right next store), get myself my $1 Mocha and meander leisurely through Target looking at all the cool "stuff" they have. I guess I didn't realize how little I've done since Juliette was born! It's not that I buy much when I go to Target. I keep it to the essentials, I just like to window shop from the inside.

Do you ever have store withdrawals?

This Blows

2009-04-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, we were driving home from our friends house about 45 minutes away. Kyle's stomach was hurting. About 2 miles down the freeway he asked me to pull over (I was driving because he didn't feel well) and he threw up. He never throws up. I think since I've known him he's thrown up once. My throat was starting to feel scratchy. Wonderful. He's got the flu (or food poisoning) and I have a cold. Maddox has already been fighting something. Green snot, cough, etc. We didn't sleep Saturday night because Kyle was up throwing up ever 45 minutes and I had a sore throat like none-other.

Sunday morning, we missed our Palm Sunday service because we were all miserable. I was feeling the best (except for Juliette), so I was on "carrying for everybody" duty. Sunday was the first day that Maddox actually acted sick. So that was fun. Down right exhausting in fact. Last night (Sunday), I went to bed and woke up at midnight and threw up. I threw up all night long and well into the morning.

Fun.

So, here I am, with a cold and the flu! Kyle was feeling better today, so he was on "carrying for everybody" duty. Luckily, Maddox is feeling better today. Unfortunately, I still need to nurse Juliette and I wasn't able to keep any liquids down for a long time. She seems to be getting enough to eat, though. I really wasn't wanting to have to go to the ER for an IV and I probably would have ended up there had I not stopped puking when I did.

I think I've figured out that I've thrown up this year more than I have in my entire life combined! I threw up every day for the first 3 months of my pregnancy with Juliette and then ended up with the flu when I was pregnant with her, too.

So far, Juliette hasn't picked up any of the germs and we're praying it stays that way because a fever before they're 8 weeks old is an emergency situation. Please pray for her. I've been nursing her very frequently hoping to give her all the anti-bodies I can.

Picture Time!

2009-04-05T14:31:00.000-07:00

4 Days Old

Getting a hug from Maddox

First Bath - 1Week old

1 Week Old

Maddox being cute

Daddy with his kiddos

Juliette always puts her head back when she's in a sling and then looks up at me, so cute!

Snuggling with Grandma- 2 Weeks old

2 Weeks Old

Going on a walk to the park

Last Week, I was feeding Juliette in the rocking chair and her car seat was sitting next to me. Maddox climbed in and about 5 minutes later I looked down and he was fast asleep!

3 Weeks Old

Life With 2

2009-04-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

I finally feel like we're getting into our groove around here. Obviously, carrying for 2 is twice as much work, but when Kyle is home, the work is divided, so that's nice. I think the biggest change for him has been that when he is home he's one kid duty 100% of the time rather than 50% :-)

Juliette was a little fussy her second week of life, but after putting her on Gripe Water she was a much happier girl. Her poor little tummy was so full of air you could hear the bubbles in there. This week I think her digestive system is working better because I've hardly used the water and she's been great!!! Much more like my mellow Maddox!!! Plus, I've gotten her down for 2 good naps in her crib today! Yippee!

Last week, I caved and bought a Moby Wrap and I LOVE it! I actual bought a similar one locally made, but it's the same concept. It's literally 15 feet of fabric. It keeps her really close to my body, though, so I can still use my arms when she's in it and it doesn't put any strain on my back.

Sleeping Quirks

2009-03-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

Is it weird that Juliette will sleep all night in her bassinet swaddled and during the day she just cries and cries and cries? At night, I swaddle her up and lay her down (usually awake) and she just drifts off to sleep without so much as a peep. Throughout her night feedings, same story. Day time has proven to be a whole different ball game. She'll sleep if we're out and about the whole time in her car seat. But, if nap time rolls around and we're not out, she fusses and fusses and fusses. She falls asleep for nap time upright, on top of me. Once she's asleep, I can lay her on her tummy and she'll sleep great for a few hours. I've just never known a child that has different night and day sleeping habits as far as positions go! I would assume if she was happy in her bassinet at night, she would be happy in there during the day. Or, if she preferred sleeping on her tummy during the day, she would want to be like that at night. I don't get it. Soon, the novelty of rocking her to sleep for naptimes is going to wear off and she's going to need to learn to put herself to sleep :-) But, for now, I'll enjoy the snuggles of my babe.

First Outing

2009-03-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Today, was my first outing with both kids by myself. And, it was a success! At first, we were just going to run to Costco, but things were going so well, and I had an hour left before I needed to pick Kyle up, that I decided to hit the grocery store, too. Juliette slept the whole time and Maddox was an very cooperative and well-behaved.

Now, if only I could get this girl to nap somewhere other than on top of me, I'd have it made! Juliette is sleeping AWESOME at night in her bassinet, but as soon as I lay her down during the day, she wakes up. I don't get it. She's great if we're out, though, she'll sleep the whole time in her car seat. I guess she's going to be a napper that needs to be driven! Ha, like I have time for that! :-)

Just One of Those Nights

2009-03-20T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last night was one of those nights that I'm sure we're bound to have more of. I fed Juliette at 11pm and she didn't fall asleep until well past midnight. Kyle and I finally got to bed around 12:45pm when he remembered he was taking some friends to the airport and he needed to be at their house at 5:45am. Juliette woke up to eat at 2:45 and somehow we both fell asleep while I was feeding her and she woke up at 3:45 and of course she was still hungry because she hadn't finished eating. Again, we both fell asleep while she was eating and she woke up hungry again at 5:15. This time it took me until after 6am to finally get her to sleep after having fully eaten. I had just drifted off to sleep when I hear Maddox crying! He usually doesn't get up until after 8:30am. He was half asleep, and I couldnt' figure out what was wrong, so I just snuggled in with him and I fell asleep. I don't know if he slept or not. Must have had a bad dream or something. He wakes me up at 7:30am. "Oameal, Oameal, Oameal, Oameal". Translation, "Oatmeal, Oatmeal, Oatmeal, Oatmeal."

So, here I am, it's 7:56am and I want to go back to bed. What a night.

Moral of the story, wake up long enough to feed your baby completely so she doesn't wake you up 3 more times in the course of 2 hours :-)

Pampers One Pack = One Vaccine

2009-03-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

This Giveaway is now closed.

Pampers has teamed up with Unicef (an organization that helps children around the world) provide life-saving vaccines for mothers and babies in 3rd world countries. The way they are doing this is when you purchase packages of specially marked packages of Pampers, Pampers donates a vaccine to Unicef to administer to somebody in need.

"The Pampers “One Pack = One Vaccine” campaign is part of a global initiative with UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), a preventable disease that claims the lives of approximately 128,000 infants and 30,000 mothers in less industrialized nations each year – that’s approximately one death every four minutes.

Tetanus can be contracted during childbirth in developing countries, where women often must give birth at home in unsanitary conditions without access to adequate health care. The disease rages through newborns within days of their exposure to the tetanus bacteria and almost always leads to a swift and painful death."

I have been asked to simply spread the word about this campaign in the hopes that you will purchase Pampers to help save lives. Another thing you can do is use your Gifts to Grow points (through Pampers.com) to donate vaccines, as well.

Giveaway:
I have also been given 4, "Together We Can Help Save a Life", onesies to give away. They are all size 12mo.

Just leave a comment on this post along with an e-mail address. The giveaway will remain open until next Monday March 23rd at midnight PST.

My First 2.5 Hours

2009-03-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've officially survived my first 2.5 hours alone with my 2 kids! Kyle went to youth group tonight as is our usual Sunday night routine. I stayed home with both kids and have so far survived :-) Good trial run. This week Kyle is working his way back to his normal work routine, so he'll be in and out throughout the week. It's been so nice having him home, but I know he can't stay home forever! Darn it.

The First Five Days

2009-03-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

The past 5 days have really gone pretty smoothly. The first few nights with Miss Juliette were a little tough just because she's trying to figure out this whole eating and sleeping thing. She's getting the hang of it now, though and actually let me sleep for 5 hours straight last night! She did another 4 hour stint after that, but Maddox woke me up after about 2 of them. The adjustment of having 2 :-) I'm slowly working her into our "Baby Wise" routine and she's doing so well! She's such a content happy little baby! I've been blessed with 2 of them!

She's been eating like a champ! I haven't had a single problem nursing this time around. She's such a good little eater and quick at that! Which, of course is AWESOME being the second one I don't have to spend all day every day nursing and having a toddler to chase around!

Maddox is adjusting just beautifully. Yesterday morning was really the last "tough" time we've had. He's now randomly coming up and giving his little sister hugs and kisses and asking to hold her. Very sweet. I was able to take him to library story yesterday just the 2 of us and today Daddy took him out for a little bit. I think they're going to pick up some baseball cards and get some ice cream.

Well, I'm getting a Booby Call. Ta ta.

Pictures of the Beautiful Girl

2009-03-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

Childbirth = Empowering

2009-03-11T12:26:00.000-07:00

I don't feel like I could say that after Maddox's delivery because I don't believe I let my body do what it knew it could do. I struggled to 7cm dilation before opting for an epidurl. Juliette's delivery was night and day different from his and I left with a very different outlook. And, I truly believe that 99% of why it was so different was the support that I had from the my awesome husband, my delivery nurse, my mid-wife and my doula. Probably all of 1% of it was my determination. I really didn't believe in myself going into the hospital on Monday. But, when I was surrounded by people who believed that I could do it and actually helped me cope, my labor breezed by and before I knew it, I was having my beautiful baby girl plopped on my chest!

We left the hospital yesterday less than 24 hours after giving birth and I feel almost 100% normal. I'm a little sore, but nothing NEAR what I was with Maddox. I've actually started laundry this morning and everything! We are resting and not over-doing it, but it's just nice that I actually feel like some-what of a norml human being!

I guess I'll go ahead and share my birth story from my perspective. Kyle it up on the other site and I think did a great job of describing everything. But, I want to share it here as a way to process and to remember from my side of the story.

Sunday night, I was really tired of being pregnant. REALLY REALLY tired. I was seriously considering scheduling an induction for Tuesday or Wednesday. I had pretty much tried everything to naturally induce labor, except for taking Castor Oil. So, I decided that $4 and diarhea was a far cheaper price to pay than paying for an induction (Yes, my thriftiness even comes into play in regards to childbirth as well). So, before bed, I took 2oz of castor oil (looking back, I probably should have taken 1/2 that). Any way, my body cleaned itself out from 3am-6am. Fun fun. I was able to go back to sleep from 6-7:30. Maddox woke up at 7:30 and I laid in bed with him for a few minutes and started noticing cramping across my lower belly that were coming 8-10 min. apart. Since they felt different than any contractions I had had up to this point I thought maybe it was intestinal cramping from the castor oil. Finally, around 8:30 I decided to let Kyle know what was going on because whether I was in labor or not, I was pretty miserable and should go to the Dr. to be checked out and make sure everything was okay with the baby because I couldn't tell whether she was moving or not.

My appointment was at 10:20. The midwife came in and checked my cervix and I was dialated to 4cm (Thursday, I was 2cm). She casually told me she thought I was in the early stages of labor and recommended I go and walk around for a bit and come back at 2pm. Since we had Maddox with us, we decided to drive back to our town and take Maddox to our friend's who were watching him. The weather was really icky and Kyle needed to send out a few e-mails for work, so we went over to the church to walk around the gym. By the time we actually started walking, it was about 12:45 and the contractions really seemed to have intensified quite a bit. We couldn't even make it 1/3 of the way around the gym in between contractions, so we timed a few and they were coming 2 1/2 minutes apart, so we decided the hospital might be a better place to be since it was 15-20 min. away from home.

We arrived back at the hospital at 1:15 and of all wonderful things, the contractions had begun to move into my back (like last time). Our wonderful labor/delivery nurse settled us in and set me up to be monitored for a bit until the mid-wife could come in and check me (she was in a c-section). She taught me a breathing technic to make room in my uterus for the contraction and then to force my body to fully relax out of the breath. Let me tell you, it was an incredible breathing technic. Let me know if you want details, kind of hard to explain in writing. The midwife came in at around 1:30/1:45 and checked me and was pretty startled when I was 6-7cm already!

At around 2pm, I climbed into the jacuzzi tub for a little bit of relaxing and that was a nice change. At 2:30 the midwife recommended breaking my water because Juliette's head was tipped down towards her chin and thought if she broke my water it would get her head in the correct position to progress things even quicker. The contraction I felt after she broke my water was probably the most intense one I felt, but with the help of all of my support, I was able to get my head back in the game and get back in control of the pain. I labored on my side with the midwife putting pressure on my back to relieve some of the pain there. Kyle was holding my hand and squeazing my hand (they wouldn't let me squeaze because they wanted me to relax). Everybody was talking about how stoic I was because I just laid there and didn't make a peep.

At 3:00 the midwife noticed one of the contractions made me move funny and asked me if I had gotten the urge to push. I was exactly sure so she checked me again and I was dilated to almost a 9 but the front of my cervix wasn't dilated yet. So, she asked me if it would be okay if I flipped over onto an almost hands and knees position with me on the bed leaning over the back. I said that was fine and they helped me move in between contractions. I had one contraction in this position before I was overwhelemed by the urge to push. I was fully dialated in one contraction! They just said to go with the natural urges of my body. 9 minutes later, she was out! My natural urge when I felt the amount of pain from pushing her out was pretty much to get her out as fast as I could, so that's what I did :-D

They plopped my beautiful girl onto my chest and I got to hold her for like 15 minutes before they even took her to be weighed. My first comment was "she's so tiny!" and the nurses and mid-wife looked at me like I was crazy and they said, "no, that's a big girl!" She weighed in at a whopping 9lbs. 3oz.! Talk about all that anxiety last week not being necessary! Oh, and the Dr. that did the ultrasound was wrong, too :-) He said on her due date maybe 8 1/2 lbs.

I have taken all of a couple of ibuprofen to help with some inflammation and that's it! I can't believe how different this recovery is than last time around. Hope I didn't gross anybody out!

And She Came on Her Due Date

2009-03-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

She's here and she made a very quick entrance. I'll share the birth story later.

Go here for pics!

I'm Doing Better, Really

2009-03-07T22:27:00.000-08:00

I really am doing better. I've had a really good few days. I've been crocheting some hats and attempting to crochet some leg warmers for the little miss. Since I don't actually have little legs to try them on I really don't know how they'll fit, but they're pretty stinkin' cute if you ask me. I'll post pics soon.

I really thought I was in labor this morning. I woke up from contraction pain at 4:45, the contractions were wrapping around my back (fun fun). I had 3, 10 minutes apart, so I decided to get up and take a shower and see what happened and possibly get ready to head to the hospital. Alas, after my shower, they dwindled to nothing. Stink. I was able to go back to sleep for a few hours, though, so that's good.

I'm beginning to think that this little one might take after me in more ways than I'd like. Take for instance, her stubbornness. Something's keeping her in there and I swear it's just the fact that she knows we want her so badly, LOL!!! And, if she decides to come out 11 days late (like me), then I just need to be okay with that.

Ta Ta.

I'm Not Doing Well

2009-03-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

**Update: 4:15pm** Thank you for your sweet comments (and e-mail), I really appreciate it. I've had a MUCH better afternoon. Kyle took Maddox and me to lunch and then Maddox and I took a little road trip and he fell asleep and we snuggled in Starbucks for awhile together while he dozed. It's amazing what a chocolate chip cookie and sweet drink can do to brighten down spirits:-) And, of course just getting out of the house! I appreciate your prayers, they mean so much!

I'm struggling right now.

It's hard to put this in a blog post because I know I'll get flooded comments "trust God", "be patient", "God's timing is perfect", yada yada yada.

I know those things. I really do, and I'm trying really hard.

The last 2 days I've been overcome with depression and today I've lost it. I'm in sweats and I can't stop crying.

I know she has to come some time. I know that it's not even my due date. I know that God has already predestined the day she's going to be born.

But, my anxiety rises each day because I have horrible fears that I won't be able to deliver her on my own because she'll be too big. I know they're not rational. I know a few extra ounces each day aren't going to be the difference between me being able to deliver her or me not being able to deliver her. But, the anxieties are still there. I'm scared out of my mind. By this point with Maddox I had had him 2 days ago and he was big, I had a traumatic delivery, and a not-so-fun recovery. Those fears loom over me.

It doesn't help that I have painful contractions every day almost all day long. There's always that question, "is this it?" I don't have anything going on right now, we've been sitting at home and I'm feeling bored out of my mind. I know I should go somewhere today, but I can't stop crying long enough to be able to apply new eye make-up and not look like a freak.

I know this is all stupid. It's not even my due date yet!!! But something inside feels out of control and I don't know how to deal with it. I want to bury myself in a hole until it really IS time. I don't want to show up at church one more Sunday and be bombarded with questions, "she's not here yet?"

They will induce me tomorrow if I want. Believe me, it sounds wonderful from one side of the spectrum. Then, I get flooded with all the "what if's" of being induced and then that freaks me out and makes me want to cry even more.

I just want somebody to tell me what to do. I just want to know what day she'll be here. Everything is ready for her, we're just waiting and that's REALLY HARD.

This is More Than We Bargained For

2009-03-03T08:31:00.001-08:00

***Update***
It's bad.
$3,000 bad.
Good thing money isn't everything.
God is in control.

We have one car. Last night, it broke down. I am a 9 month pregnant woman who could go into spontaneous labor at any moment.

Great.

It's the one time in the last few weeks that I have begged God NOT to let her come tonight.

She didn't.

The car is being towed to the mechanic and we'll be getting a rental car in the mean-time.

Great timing.

Oh, the Woes

2009-02-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

I've developed Carpal Tunnel in the last few days and it's starting to really bother me! I wake up about 5-6 times during the night with completely numb hands. My wrists are really tender as well as my middle finger joints. Well, really, my whole hands are stiff, but the middle finger is the worst. Thankfully, it does go away within a few weeks of giving birth! This would not be something I would want to deal with for the rest of my life.

Maddox is 2!!!

2009-02-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of the birthday boy!!! He actually blew out both of his candles (in 2 puffs)!

On Getting Ready

2009-02-23T11:25:00.000-08:00

Today, I'm feeling much better after this terribly awful cold. I actually have energy which feels so amazing! Forgot what it was like! Some things fell apart when I was sick, no laundry was done and not much got picked up around here. Thank goodness that I have energy today so that I can hopefully accomplish some things! My bags are not packed to go to the hospital, so hopefully after I am caught up on laundry I can focus on packing up what I will need for my stay there.

The sun is peaking out it's head from behind the rain clouds so I think Maddox and I will go take advantage of that and go on a little walk, something I haven't done much of this pregnancy, unfortunately.

I need to work a little this afternoon for the church (monthly bill time) so that it is done and out of the way before I give birth.

Off to strap on my tennies.

Adieu

The Latest on Miss Juliette

2009-02-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

We had our ultrasound today and the Doctor that performed it doesn't seem overly concerned about her size and doesn't seem to think that inducing me a week early is necessary. He said it might be easier if my body was ready, but not that it was necessary. So, I met with a mid-wife afterwards and next Friday at my weekly check-up, I'm going to have them strip my membranes and see if we can get things moving a little more naturally. I would have had her do it today, but since I'm still feeling a bit under the weather and if it did work, I'm not sure I want to be in the throngs of labor while sick. Any whoo....we shall see. Off to pack my bags just in case she shows her beautiful face by surprise this week.

Sick

2009-02-19T16:46:00.000-08:00

I came down with a really nasty cold/flu bug thing. It doesn't feel good one little tiny bit. I'm achey and my sinuses are feeling raw. I have no energy what-s0-ever today. I stopped by to see the mid-wives just to make sure everything looked okay and she said I didn't have anything to worry about. She said she would have stripped my membranes tomorrow had I not had this cold. Stink! My appointment isn't until tomorrow afternoon, though. So if I'm feeling better and feel like I'm rested up enough I might go ahead and have them do it. We shall see.

So Confused!

2009-02-18T08:46:00.000-08:00

With Maddox, I never had false labor and I never was anxious about when I was going to have him. I expected to have him 2 weeks late, so it was a very pleasant surprise when I went into labor a week early! This time around, it's SO different. As you know, I've been having some-what painful contractions (Braxton Hicks) for over a month. They've progressively gotten more painful and at times I have contractions as painful as after I had already been admitted to the hospital with Maddox! But, I only have 3 at a time and then they taper off to nothing painful.

The nerd in me found this website called Contraction Master where you can use it to time your contractions by pushing the space bar when a contractions starts and ends. I timed my contractions for about 2 hours last night while watching some TV and they were so weird! Some of them were painful, some where not, but one would be 5 min. after my last, the next would be 10. They'd even last for a minute in length. It went in that order for 2 hours! In order to be considered in labor, they need to be painful enough that you can't talk or walk through them (I've had some), they have to be 5-6 min. apart, last for a minute in length and continue for a few hours.

Oh dear me! At least she'll be here within 3 weeks, I do know that!

I think, I wish???

2009-02-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

Today, I started having some fairly painful contractions. They were even some-what regular for about an hour. And then they tapered off. Stink!

I think, I wish I had been in true labor. But, then again, part of me really isn't ready yet. If she had been born today she and Maddox would have had birthdays only 3 days apart. I would really like them to be a bit further than that. But, then again, does it really matter and really, do I have a choice?

I wish I had an answer.

P.S. I'm technically full term today (37 weeks), so that's a good thing!

Pink Invasion

2009-02-11T15:49:00.000-08:00

Pink is invading our house!!! Here's a picture of Juliette's newly acquired wardrobe. LOVE IT!

Here is a picture of her 0-3 month clothes drawer. Again, LOVE IT!

Here's a picture of Juliette's room from the door. (The wall to the right has another window with a curtain going to the opposite direction.)

Here's an up close shot of the crib. The sheets are cream with green, brown and 2 shades of pink polka dots. I haven't bought the crib bumper yet.

And, since we're on the pink theme, I thought I'd share the silliness of my son. I grabbed Burger King for lunch yesterday (Kyle was sick and he craves Burger King) and this was the kids meal toy(seriously?). Oh, dear.

Just a Note

2009-02-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

When Maddox was born, Kyle was great at keeping our ~~adoring fans~~ friends and family up-to-date on the happenings of his delivery. We're hoping to do the same this time around, unless she comes really fast and we don't have a chance (which, would be awesome, but I'm not counting on it!). Kyle will do that over on the family blog. So, check back often if you see an absence here because that might be why!

Blessed

2009-02-09T22:08:00.001-08:00

That's what we are, blessed.

We are blessed by wonderful family, friends and church family that care deeply about us.

I'm feeling a huge sense of that today. My Mom and Grandma are giving up their time this weekend to come and play with Maddox so that Kyle and I can minister to our high schoolers. I know that coming to play with Maddox isn't a burden to them at all, but it still means a lot to us that they want to do things like that and are willing any time we ask.

Another way I feel blessed is that my friends threw me a wonderful shower yesterday! Juliette will be the best dressed girl around these parts, that's what I'm telling you!!!

Blessed.

(Almost) 36 Weeks Pregnant

2009-02-07T08:50:00.001-08:00

I had my 36 weeks check-up with the mid-wives yesterday. For starters, I gained over 5lbs in just 2 weeks!!! I was absolutely shocked when I saw the scale! I haven't been bad over the last couple of weeks at all, hardly eaten any sugar and we always eat a pretty low-fat diet, so I was completely shocked. The mid-wife wasn't concerned because my over-all weight gain is still okay (as in 1lb away from the higher end of what I'm supposed to gain, why are they so nice!?! I still have 3 weeks left!). Any way, I doubt Juliette took all 5lbs, so, whatever.

They had to do a Strep B test yesterday, so I went ahead and had her check me to see if I was dilated at all. I am already 2cm dilated at the opening and she said my cervix is very "soft". It's hard to know what that really means as far as when she'll come, but it tells us that the contractions I've been feeling have been doing something, just very slowly. Kyle and I were able to go to dinner and a movie last night and I had contractions pretty regularly for about 3 hours.

Any way, the mid-wife and I were able to have a talk about the birth since we're now just about 4 weeks out. As some of you know, Maddox was a pretty good size little boy weighing in at 8lbs. 11oz. and his shoulder got stuck during delivery. Because of my "history", they are obviously concerned about this birth since historically, second babies will be larger than the first. So, they've ordered an estimated fetal weight ultrasound to be done at 38 weeks and depending upon how big it looks like she is, they're most likely going to induce me at 39 weeks (unless, of course, I have her before then). I really don't want to be induced, though, so I'm praying that she would decide to come naturally prior to the induction date

We have a high school youth conference next weekend in Portland that Kyle and I are taking some kids to, so ideally if I go into labor on my own in the next few weeks, she would at least wait until next Monday. (Love how I'm trying to plan this? I'm such a planner, I can't help myself, lol.) Another thing I'd love, but you know, also not in my hands, is that I'd like it if her birthday was in March just because Maddox's birthday is already in February. Silly.

I wish childbirth was more predictable. All of the unknowns are hard because really, you can't plan specifically for it.

Goodbye for now!

Baby Preparations

2009-02-06T00:32:00.001-08:00

I have had very little energy lately and have been taking it pretty easy. I've been needing to finish a few more projects in the baby's room, but have been putting it off. I bought some beautiful fabric to make curtains out of when I was visiting my family for the holidays, but I knew it was going to be a BIG project to sew them because I'm making them ceiling to floor length. So, I've procrastinated actually cutting them and sewing them. I finally mustered up the energy to cut them out today and thought that that was going to be as far as I would get, but I had time tonight after Maddox went to bed and I actually got them both done! Now, I just need to talk my totally rad husband into installing the curtain rods so I can hang them so I can get some pictures to show you! I'm really happy with the way they turned out, and hope that they look awesome hung up, too.

I finally found a crib bumper that will work in the baby's room. I didn't think it would be so hard to find a solid brown crib bumper! This is the only one I've been able to find, good thing I like it and it's not too expensive! I think Juliette's entire room decorating cost me less than $100! That's all of her crib bedding (sheets, skirt, bumper & quilt) and her window treatments (including 2 rods). Our church gave me a gift card for Christmas (a thank you for doing the bookkeeping) that paid for half of her room redo. I don't think that's too shabby at all!

Oh, and for those of you interested, our family website is back up and running!

Much Better End to the Weekend

2009-02-03T09:23:00.001-08:00

My weekend did get better!

Sunday was an exhausting day, but good. We had a Superbowl party at the church for the youth and we were there for around 5 hours. It was fun and we had a lot of kids turn out for it! We came home beat. We watched the Office, unfortunately because the post game show went 10 min. into the start of the Office time slot, our DVR didn't record the last 10 min. So, we need to finish watching it on the computer.

My wonderful husband took yesterday off to hang out with us. We took advantage of the time we had to run a few errands that needed to be run before Juliette shows her gorgeous face. So, we went to lunch, ran to Fred Meyer and then ran to Home Depot to pick up a shelf for our utility room.

I've been having contractions 5 minutes apart for most of yesterday afternoon/evening and then again this morning. I'm really hoping this doesn't mean something because A. I'm not ready for her to come. B. She isn't really ready to come either. It would be much better if she could hold off at least another week or two (she would be considered pre-term at this point) C. It would REALLY mess up some plans! (We have a youth retreat a week from Friday that Kyle and I are the only leaders for) The contractions don't hurt. They're just uncomfortable and they aren't getting worse, so I really think my body just doesn't know what it's doing, unfortunately. I really don't want to feel this for the next 4-5 weeks!

Oh, and my new bag came and I LOVE it!!!

We'll Call This...Bad Day

2009-01-31T18:59:00.000-08:00

My bad day is hopefully coming to an end VERY soon. As soon as Kyle pulls into the driveway, I'm sure exhausted and beat after playing in the snow with middle schoolers all day, I'm hoping my bad day will end. I've been home for 3 days straight and I really started feeling it today, today of all days when I didn't have a car to actually drive anywhere. Maddox and I walked to a coffee shop for a bit and hit a couple of little shops on the way home. That was fun.

The fun ended when it took Maddox 3 hours to fall asleep for his nap. This is becoming a regular occurance in our household and it's getting old really fast. It's hard for me to relax when I'm having to go into his room every 5 min. to tell him to get back in bed. Once he finally fell asleep at around 4:30, I couldn't let him sleep more than 30 minutes because he won't sleep tonight. He still needs a nap, he just is having the hardest time actually falling asleep. I need him to nap, I don't know how he actually feels about it :-)

After 3 hours of frustration, I moved some things around in our dining room and laundry room trying to make things more functional. I leaned 3 heavy white shelves against my refrigerator and forgot about them until I opened my white refrigerator and all three of them fell straight onto my left food. I'm quite sure I broke a small bone and I'm quite sure that a doctor wouldn't do anything about it except tell me to stay off of it and let it heal. It hurts and it's black and blue.

Add achey foot to achey pregnant bones and I'm one not very happy pregnant lady right now.

Sore, tired Kyle will be home soon and we'll just be one very sore grumpy family. But, at least the child work will be divied up 50/50, that's what I'm looking forward to!

Sad Realization

2009-01-28T22:59:00.000-08:00

My one and only college roommate (Jackie) is engaged and getting married February 21st. It hadn't really crossed my mind that I shouldn't go to her wedding. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive. Kyle expressed hesitation with me going alone since I'd be 38 weeks pregnant, so he told me he definitely wanted to come with me. I just realized tonight it probably isn't a good idea to be that far away from my hospital that close to my due date.

I'm Sad.

Maddox arrived a week early and I've been having SO many Braxton Hicks lately (pretty much non-stop and they really don't feel good) that there is a very good possibility that Juliette might decide to show her pretty face early as well. I don't want to count on it or get my hopes up, but it was a realization that I needed to come to grips with tonight.

Sadness.

My Pretty New Bag

2009-01-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

I've never really carried a diaper bag since having Maddox. I've always just thrown wipes and a couple of diapers into my purse. But, with the arrival of Juliette in just a few weeks I've been feeling the need for an actual functional diaper bag since I'll have more stuff to carry around with 2 kiddos.

Kyle knows how much I stress about the cost of things because I'm such a bargain hunter, that he told me not to worry about the cost of a new diaper bag and to just buy one when I found one that I liked. He told me I could spend $80 on a new one. Sheesh, I wasn't about to spend that! I saw this one (pictured above) at Green Baby Bargains for half the regular price a few weeks ago and I let it slip through my fingers (they post one item a day) because I'm super indecisive. Any way, they brought it back yesterday and I told Kyle about it and he went online and bought it for me. Isn't he a nice husband!?!

I'm happy.

Bloggy Giveaway: Yummie Tummie Shapewear

2009-01-26T17:02:00.000-08:00

---THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED---

Congratulations #101 daytoncat(at)yahoo(dot)com !!!!

Yummie Tummie is the new leader in shapewear that visibly slims, shapes and smooths you! They were designed by Heather Thomson, the celebrity stylist who has dressed Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez. One lucky reader of my blog will have the opportunity to win their very own Yummie Tummie shapewear. I am giving away the Glamour (shown below right) size Medium in Black . It's a $72 value!!!

How to Enter:

Leave one comment below with the following information

-Your favorite shapewear top from YummieTummie.com
-A valid e-mail address in your comment so I have some way of getting ahold of you.

This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.

This Giveaway will remain open through Friday January 30, 2009 at midntight pacific time. I will draw a random winner using random.org on Saturday the 31st.

Be sure to check out the Bloggy Giveaway carnival happening this week for your chance to win great things!

Back to Scrapbooking

2009-01-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

I wasn't going to let myself get behind in scrapbooking. Once you do, it's very tough to catch up. I started Maddox's book and got a whopping 3 months into his life before I ran out of printed pictures and quit. I ordered a ton more and then just never had the motivation to pull out all of my "stuff" and begin again where I left off. Now that the arrival of Juliette is looming and Maddox will be 2 in 3 weeks, I decided I really should get on working towards catching up with my scrapbooking! Or else all I'll ever have is pictures on my computer!

So, that's what I'm up to! Scrapbooking my little heart out. Thankfully, I do my scrapbooks pretty simple, so they really don't take too long once I get in the groove.

The Family Website

2009-01-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

For those of you curious, our family website is gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. A few months back we started paying a server company to host it and yesterday it disappeared off the face of the earth. It was so cute and so well put together by my talented husband and now. it's. gone. Gone. The hosting company is trying to blame it on a hacker. Apparently, our family has enemies that we don't know about who wanted our website off of the World Wide Web.

We're starting to wonder if it's CBS that took us down. I joke not. Kyle posted about an observation he made about Survivor 2 days ago and yesterday, our site was obliterated. We think he's a conspiracy theorist and he threatened the network. Muahahaha! So, they took us down. I will not speak about his theory on this blog lest I be taken down as well.

Obviously, we don't know what really happened, but for the time being it's gone. Gone until my sweet husband decides to invest lots of time and energy into designing a new one. He's working on redoing a website for my parents' business, so that's his first priority at the moment.

"The Creative Family"

2009-01-19T11:11:00.000-08:00

My totally rad sister-in-law Shelle y bought me this book for Christmas, The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections by Amanda Blake Soule. Maddox has expressed creativity and a natural ability to draw, much like his friend Dahlia. I mentioned to Shelley that I wanted to encourage creativity in my kids as they grow up, so she took that as a cue to find me an awesome book for Christmas. I just finished it yesterday and was so impressed by it. Amanda Soule doesn't say that you, as the parent, need to have a natural talent for creativity, but the important thing is that you take the time to create in whatever area you enjoy and create times for your kids to use their imaginations to create things as well.

Any way, I highly recommend it!

Update-a-roonie

2009-01-17T23:11:00.000-08:00

I know my updates have been few and far between and for that, I'm sorry. The urge to nest hit pretty hard after our return from our Christmas trip and most of my spare time has been spent sewing and crafting and organizing! The house is really pulling together and I promise to post some pictures of what I've been up to very soon, I'm just not quite ready, yet.

For starters, here's a belly pic of me at almost 30 weeks, so just about 3 weeks ago.

And, because I like to compare, I'll throw in a picture of me pregnant with Maddox at 28 weeks.

Here are some pictures of Maddox, because I know some of you can't live without those.

On Christmas morning the first gift we gave Maddox was a stuffed animal monkey. The picture shows it re-wrapped and under the tree. Maddox wasn't impressed. They've since become best of friends, though and he is a close second to the famous "Pooh Bear".

Maddox handed Kyle the camera the other day and then posed like this, too cute!

We haven't really started potty training yet, we've just started talking to Maddox about it a lot, getting him used to the idea. I pulled out his little Ikea potty as well as a seat that goes on a normal toilet and this is what he did...

Um, yeah...it's supposed to be used something like that.

It's Official...

2009-01-06T20:57:00.000-08:00

I'm finally a normal clothes washing homemaker again and boy does the sound of my new washer and dryer sound SO good after being without for 7 weeks! My new washer and dryer were delivered today, yippee!!! No dirty piles of laundry all over my house any more!

Nesting and a Big Change

2009-01-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

While I was away on vacation visiting my family the nesting bug hit me. Prior to going away for Christmas I was unmotivated to do anything in my house. Every room overwhelmed me and there were no decorations on any of the walls. For two days I've been a very busy bee and have accomplished a lot! My living room is actually partially decorated and Juliette's room is no longer the "box room", but her room with just a few extra things I haven't found homes for yet. Yippee! It feels SO good! I have lots of projects to work on and am just trying to do a few each day. I'll post pictures very soon.

Not an actual picture of Maddox's room. It's still in progress, pictures to come!

Last night, my baby became a little boy. We took the side off of his crib and he slept in there all night long. He didn't climb out once until this morning when he woke up and wanted to play. I was very surprised he didn't climb out once last night! Once he gets the hang of sleeping without a rail we'll move him into his twin sized bed, probably in about another 4 days or so. Our progress seems to be moving along. No pacifier, we've moved and now not sleeping in a crib! Now, just for the big one in about 9 weeks give or take, welcoming a little sister to the family!

Pregnancy: 29 Weeks, 5 Days

2008-12-27T18:32:00.001-08:00

I can't believe I'm already down to about 10 weeks! Seems like the last few months have flown where as the first 3 drug because I was so sick.

At this point things are okay. I found out about a week and a half ago that I'm anemic, so after adding some iron supplements into my diet I'm feeling much better. I was really dragging there for awhile and just assumed it was because I was in my 3rd trimester. 2 check-ups ago I was measuring just a little small and then at my last appointment I was measuring small again so the midwife had my blood count checked. Anemia can cause babies to be underweight and also be born pre-term, so I'm really glad it was caught when it was. I want her to be born healthy, that's the most important to me.

I'm having pain in my hips like I did with Maddox, so I've been sleeping on my soft cushy sofa to alleviate some of the pain. Some nights it helps, others it doesn't. I'm miserable when I don't sleep well, though. Every step I take throughout the day hurts. I can do it, just 10 more weeks! I'll try to remember to have Kyle take a picture tonight, it's been too long!

Our Christmas

2008-12-22T19:05:00.000-08:00

We're not where we expected to be today. Where are we exactly? I'm sitting at my home computer writing this blog post. Where did I expect to be today? In my home town celebrating Christmas with my family.

As you may (or may not) know, we have been hit with a HUGE snow storm. We don't get snow around these parts very much and we are literally buried in it right now. There is probably close to 18 inch on the ground and 8 of them fell in the last 24 hours.

Needless to say, our plane flight was canceled today and they couldn't get us out until Friday, so we decided to wait out the weekend because Kyle is preaching on Sunday and thought we should all just fly together, just a week later. So, we're going to spend Christmas here, just the 3 of us. It's kinda hard getting used to the idea since I wasn't planning on being here and we don't have a tree, or food or anything. Here's some pictures documenting our adventures yesterday and today. We drove up to celebrate a little Christmas with Kyle's mom yesterday (she lives about 40 min. away). Due to HORRIBLE driving conditions it took us 2 hours. We stayed the night with her because she lives 10 min. from the airport and we thought that was our next destination. Instead, we came home to an already mad cat. Seriously, get over it, it was 24 hours! Just you wait...

This was last Sunday when the snow started (yes Kyle dumped him out of the sled)

This was our yard last Sunday evening, notice the grass still showing?

This was the snow coming down on our way up to Kyle's mom's yesterday

This was my view through the windshield, I'm sure glad Kyle could see better than that.

This was the freeway on our way home today. Yes, that's the freeway.

This is 2 inches of pure ice on our driveway, gotta love freezing rain.

This was our front yard when we got home today. Notice the lack of grass? The large bump in the yard is a huge branch that fell yesterday while we were at church. Didn't get a picture of it before snow covered it.

Kyle and Maddox shoveling the driveway.

And the Snow Begins Again

2008-12-17T11:47:00.000-08:00

Did I forget to mention it snowed on Sunday? Whoops. My bad :-) I took a few pictures but it was too dark outside for them to really turn out, plus I have yet to find a USB cord. I wish it looked as pretty as the picture above. It snowed about 2 inches and we still have that much still on the ground because the high since Sunday has been 30 degrees. This is really unique weather for us. Usually we get one thing of snow that lasts for a few hours and then turns to rain and melts away. This snow reminds me of Idaho winters. It started snowing again just a few minutes ago and is supposed to snow off and on through Friday. The weather report says that today through next Wed. we're supposed to get snow every day. Weird. Maddox isn't a huge fan of the snow, heaven forbid the stuff touch him! He likes watching it, but doesn't want to be in it.

Oh, and for those of you who aren't familiar with our area, when it snows, the entire city shuts down. There hasn't been school for 3 days and won't be for the next 2. It makes me laugh.

Fancast.com

2008-12-16T15:28:00.000-08:00

We've had satellite TV for almost 2 years, basically since Maddox was born so that we could get the DVR and be able to record our favorite shows and watch them when we wanted to, not when the networks told us we had to. Unfortunately, when we moved into our new house we have a big tree that blocks our satellite reception, so we canceled it and have just been watching network TV. We bought a stand-alone DVR to use because we really can't live without it. Unfortunately, we miss some of the shows that were on USA (Monk, Psych and Burn Notice).

But, thanks to Fancast.com, we can stream them through our computer. My tech-savvy husband even has a computer hooked up to our TV so we can and watch them on our TV. Best of all, the site is FREE! Did you get that? F.R.E.E. Pretty much the coolest thing ever. If you haven't been there, you should check it out because they have SO many great shows. Heroes, Lost, Gilmore Girls, The Office, 30 Rock. You can even watch Food Network shows like 30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray (one of my favorites). Plus, they have limited commercial interruption, cuz seriously, how likes commercials.

Couldn't keep it to myself, hope you find as much enjoyment as we do.

Pretend

2008-12-14T17:15:00.000-08:00

Maddox has recently started playing pretend. It started with pretend eating food off the pages of books. Recently, it has developed into him playing pretend with his very favorite bear. He feeds him, gives him drinks and even reprimands him. It's pretty cute. He'll sit and read books to his bear and everything. I'll ask him if he wants me to read him a book and instead he'll hop up into a comfy chair and "read" his bear books. Early today I found him shaking his finger at his bear, saying "no, no" and then he picked him up and gave him the hugest hug like he had forgiven him for being naughty. A little bit ago he was eating some yogurt and he hopped down from his table and went into his room, found bear, brought bear back into the dining room and started feeding him his yogurt. Thankfully, he doesn't bring the food close enough to the bears mouth to get the food on it.

Review: A Long Way Gone

2008-12-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

I finished A Long Way Gone last night and thought I'd share my opinions on it. It was a good book in that it was a powerful true life story about what Ishmael experienced fighting as a soldier during one of the civil wars in Sierra Leon, Africa. I was kinda left wanting more about how he learned to forgive himself and stuff. The majority of the book was about how he got into the war and very little of it was his experiences getting out of it. Since English isn't his first language the book isn't excellently written, so that was tough to chew sometimes. It was good, I'm glad I read it. Doesn't he look like a happy person now?

Laundromat

2008-12-08T21:10:00.001-08:00

Confession: I'd never used a laundromat before today.

As I've been without a washer and dryer for 2+ weeks and my new ones won't be delivered until a week from tomorrow, I had no choice but to hit the laundromat. I had so much dirty laundry it was unbelievable! I filled 4 of the big capacity washers and 2 of the regular ones and it took 7 dryers to get all of our stuff dry. 3 hours and $30 poorer (I had no idea laundromats were so expensive) all of my laundry was nice and clean and ready to be put away instead of lying all over the floor because my hampers and laundry baskets were over flowing. Good thing Starbucks was next door :-)

Stuff

2008-12-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

We're slowly settling into our new home. We pretty much love everything about it, but we're still not unpacked. I look around and really don't feel very unpacked at all. It's A LOT of work! We finally have the shed up. It took more time then we anticipated, but it's done! Kyle picked it up Thursday and then we spent all of our daylight hours yesterday and today putting it together. EXHAUSTING! I have pictures of the process, but I need to find a USB cord somewhere in my unpacked house.

I think the unpacking process is taking so long (aside from being gone for 8 days!) because I'm pregnant and in my 3rd trimester and I get tired easily, plus chasing and playing with a toddler take a lot of time, too. Add that to our normal life of youth ministry and the moving process just takes a long time!!!

Now that the shed is up I think that things will move a little quicker since I can move in my utility room which is also my kitchen overflow. But, then again, I would need to actually be able to physically move, which is painful right now after 2 days of shed building! Oh the woes of life.

A New Years Resolution

2008-12-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

I know it's a tad early to be setting New Years Resolutions, but Kyle mentioned what he was thinking the other day and I couldn't resist jumping on the band-wagon, too. So, we're doing it together. We both love reading, but I'm not very disciplined when it comes to setting aside time to read. So, we have resolved to each read 12 books in 2009. I know it's not a huge lofty goal, but when I can only think that I read the last Harry Potter in 2008, I really am setting up a big goal. Kyle reads more than I do because he reads for work, but he'd like to read more during his free time.

We're going to alternate every other month reading a "fun" book and then a book of a more serious nature. We're not reading the same book at the same time. We might overlap a little, but our taste in books differ.

We stopped by Barnes and Nobel before leaving Kyle's home town yesterday and each picked out a book. I picked out A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah per Kyle's recommendation and Kyle picked out the newest Rob Bell. The book I'm going to be starting soon is about the a young boy in Sierra Leon, Africa who was forced to fight during the civil wars that happened over there probably 10 years ago? Since I haven't read it yet, I can't give any more insight then that. I'll share more once I've read it. Our church supports missionaries and partners with their ministry in Sierra Leon, so we know a little about what happened there during the wars.

This probably sounds silly, but we're going to make up a chart to track our reading so that we can stay accountable to actually doing what we've set out to do. I'll share our progress.

This N' That

2008-12-01T08:08:00.001-08:00

I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with this pregnancy. Not that Juliette hasn't been growing and such over the past 26 weeks, it's just feels like it's really truly never-ending. I hit 26 weeks today and finally feel like I'm getting somewhere. I only have 14 weeks left and that feels like a tangible number. 98 days, that's it! After Christmas it will be more like 68ish days left. Wowza!

Maddox received an early Christmas present of a Thomas the Train wooden railroad. He's been playing with it for days. Literally, non-stop for like 6 days. He wakes up and it's the first place he goes. He also found some Star Wars action figures in Grandpa Paul's garage that belonged to his daddy and those have been great things to knock over with the Thomas train. Yes, he's all boy.

I got a cold Friday night, thankfully, it was a minor one and very fast moving. Today should be the last of the congestion. Yeah for actually being able to taste food!

Today, is our last full day in the Bay Area, so we're heading to the Jelly Belly factory for a few hours. And, probably partake in In N' Out one "last" time. We'll say that and then probably eat there again tomorrow just for good measure.

We bought Josh Groban's Christmas CD yesterday and we've been listening to it, now it's starting to feel like Christmas. Yippee! I love Christmas!

I need help. I'm kinda sorta supposed to cut sugar out of my diet for the next 14 weeks. Apparently, it's miracle grow for babies and my mid-wives don't want Juliette to be too big at delivery. It's very important to me, too, because Maddox was a big boy and his shoulders were stuck at delivery, so I really want to do my best. This is where I need your help. I need low-to-no sugar "dessert" ideas so that when I have intense sugar cravings (which hit every day), I can have something that's yummy and kinda sweet to tide me over for the next 14 weeks. I can't have artificial sugar, though, so that makes it's tricky. Don't get me wrong, Christmas is coming, and I'll definitely be partaking in Christmas goodies, but I'm really going to limit myself, that's why I need your help and ideas. Pretty pretty please!

Okay, I'm completely done rambling now.

Goodbye.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2008-11-27T09:11:00.001-08:00

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We get to spend the day with Kyle's Dad, Brother, Sister, Aunt and all of their families. I believe there will be 15 in all! Enjoy your day!

We're in!

2008-11-22T13:32:00.001-08:00

I can't believe we're finally in our new home after such a long, drawn out process. We love it, here. Our living space is phenomenal, just perfect for us and my kitchen is just perfect. It has brand new cabinets and appliances.

Unpacking can be very overwhelming, but we're plugging away. Today, since Kyle had to be gone for work most of the morning/afternoon, I decided to go shopping for some home necessities. I found a lot of what I was looking for, so that was good. It also plum tuckered Maddox out, so he's napping.

Off to unpack some more!

Moving

2008-11-19T02:15:00.000-08:00

It's 3:15am and I can't sleep. I'm visiting my parents and heading home tomorrow. I fell asleep for probably 1-2 hours and haven't been able to fall back to sleep for the last 2. Blah. So, I did a little shopping online and now I decided to blog about nothing because I really don't have anything important to say.

2 things:

1. If everything goes as planned, we should be closing on our houses tomorrow, which frees us up to move on THURSDAY!!! Yippee! Pray that the $$$ comes through from the lady buying our house since we can't buy ours without her money.

2. My son is genius. At a ripe age of 21 months he's a puzzle whizz. He can not only do the little puzzles that have a specific hole for each piece, he can do a map of the United States. It's a wooden one, but each state doesn't have it's own hole. Hard to explain, so I'll have to take a picture for you soon. He can do it all by himself.

Maybe I can fall asleep now? We'll see.

Note to self: Don't take 2 1/2 hour naps ending at 5pm from now on :-)

Packing

2008-11-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

I've been packing my little heart out today and boy is it a lot of work. It feels like no matter how much I pack, I still have so much to do! I'm down to 4 days left before I really need to have everything packed up and done, but it feels like I could work as hard as I did today and still have it take another full year! I'm sure that's not entirely true, but there's still so much to do none-the-less. Molly is going to come help me on Friday and she'll be a huge help. I think we'll pack up the kitchen then since I'll be gone over the weekend and won't really need dishes to cook in or anything and Kyle can hold his own with a pot or two and some paper dishes. I knew I dreaded the day we moved out of this house because of all the stuff we've accumulated and I have to say that that's exactly my feelings right now as moving day looms. Dread. Thankfully, our realty company is hiring movers to move us, so we don't have to do any of the heavy lifting ourselves. Yippee!

Off to pack some more...

Moving...So Soon?

2008-11-07T17:08:00.001-08:00

Or is it so late?

I received a call from our Realtor today and we might be signing papers on our houses next Friday! Which means we'd get our keys on Tuesday and could move the weekend before Thanksgiving. I should have more information on Monday, but that's what it's sounding like. Yippee for moving into my cute new house!

On the garage sale front, I feel like we had a very successful day! We were open from 9-1 and were busy almost the whole time. We'll be open again tomorrow for 4 hours and at Noon and everything is 50% off, I want it all gone gone gone! I love purging.

I Think I'm Crazy

2008-11-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

It's 50 degrees outside and rainy and I'm having a moving sale tomorrow and Saturday. I have to say, it feels great to purge my life of stuff, lots of stuff we've accumulated and stashed in our 4 1/2 years of marriage. We are downsizing a bit with our move, so I have a bit of small furniture to pass on as well as clothes and little"things" that need to find a new home. Luckily, we have a big garage to have the sale in, so everything will stay nice and dry. I also put an classified ad in the paper to draw people out of their nice warm homes. I made some awesome fluorescent pink signs to put out at the street (rain proofed them as much as possible). It's a lot of work! After work Kyle will be home to help to set up some tables and move some stuff around. Hopefully, I'm ready, because ready or not, I'm sure I'll have people busting down my door at 9am.

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Monkeys!

2008-10-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

Actually, just one little monkey, but he's so cute!

We went trick or treating at our neighbors house and Maddox got a sucker and seemed pleasantly content, so we left it at that. Then, he and I went to a wedding at our church (Kyle has a middle school retreat this weekend) and he was SO good the entire time, I couldn't believe it, and he was still dressed like a monkey, so cute.

Here's a 21 weeks belly pic of me taken yesterday, I think the picture makes me look humungo giganto, today I feel much smaller, what's up with that!?! The picture underneath was me at 20 weeks with Maddox. Like I said, though...the picture taken yesterday I think is a weird angle or something because I'm not that big. I'm going to make Kyle take another one on Sunday :-) The picture does show how much higher I'm carrying Juliette, though. Weird.

This is Kyle dressed up like Mr. Rogers. I didn't dress up, I'm a party pooper, well, actually I tried fitting into my poodle skirt for a party last weekend and was all bummed because it didn't fit over my thighs. Kyle asked me when the last time I wore it was and I told him probably when I was like 13 or 14 and he didn't say anything in response. Apparently, I'm not the same size any more :-(

We Have a Winner!

2008-10-31T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your participation in the wall vinyl giveaway! Random.org selected number 68 Justicecw. I am going to e-mail them right now.

I hope that those of you who didn't win would still consider checking out my family's store! They are able to make lots of custom vinyls, so please keep them in mind with the holidays quickly approaching!

Thanks again!

I Just Needed to Share

2008-10-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from Sunday. We've had gorgeous 70 degree weather the last 3 days, so we've been taking advantage of some outside time before the rain starts!

I look like a retard, but hey, it's about the fun he's having!

This looks totally posed, but really he just fell down and then looked cute:-)

Oh, look, a picture of me, you don't find those every day! (I'm generally the photographer)

And, here's a healthy dose of cheese doled out by the one and only King of Cheese.

Bloggy Giveaway: Wall Vinyl Art

2008-10-26T17:43:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your participation! This Giveaway is now closed.

My parents and brother recently started their second business called Vinyls Plus Marketing. As part of their business, they are selling wall vinyl art through Etsy.com. They have graciously offered to giveaway anything at their site priced $19.95 or under. Some of the items you can customize for your family! Wall vinyl is easy to apply and will not hurt your wall paint.

To be eligible to win, please visit their site at Etsy and come back here and in the comments section tell me which of the items is your favorite. This giveaway will remain open until Friday, Oct. 31 at 10pm PST. I will randomly draw a winner. U.S. residents only, please.

Please make sure you check out all the other wonderful giveaways over at the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival happening this week! You can be sure I'll be signing up for as many of them as I have time for :-)

I've Got Pink on the Brain

2008-10-23T10:37:00.001-07:00

Can you tell why? I love the look of this room and I quite possibly might need to replicate something similar in my little girls room. I'll be visiting my family in about 3 weeks to celebrate my grandma's 70th birthday and there is the most amazing fabric store there, so if I know what I'm looking for I'll have to go shopping to pick some up. Our crib is that color, just a bit different style. I love the combination of the pink and brown. It makes my heart sing.

I love the brown walls in this one, but with the color of our crib, it totally won't work. I could reverse it and do pink with brown around the top, but I don't know. We don't have cool high ceilings like that, so it may totally look terrible. That's why I like the idea of the floor to ceiling curtains. Oh the choices to make! I wish I could higher a designer, seriously. Shelley, wanna come help me?

I also need to redo Maddox's room since he'll be in a twin size bed and in a much bigger room that is going to double as the play room. I love the idea of decorating, but lack of lots of money and creativity definitely stands in my way.

Anybody have any ideas?

P.A.C.I.F.E.R is G.O.N.E

2008-10-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

But, shhhh...don't tell Maddox he hasn't really seemed to notice!

Maddox has officially slept 3 times without his pacifier and he really hasn't seemed to miss it much. The most noticeable thing is that it takes him a really long time to settle into bed. We've heard him talking through the monitor for up to 1 1/2 hours after putting him to bed. He fussed a little bit, but since he can't talk, he doesn't know how to ask for it. I think it's a calming thing for him, so it helps him to fall asleep faster, but I think he'll adjust soon and won't have a problem falling asleep.

~~Transition 1: Lose the Pacifier~~ Complete
Transition 2: Move
Transition 3: Twin size bed
Transition 4: Hello baby sister!

We're Buying a House!

2008-10-16T13:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't mentioned anything about the house in awhile, I just realized, so I thought you all would like an update! We have sold our house and are closing on Dec. 5. We've been thinking and praying a lot about re-buying vs. renting and after some prayer, decided to pursue buying and if we could find something in our price range, we should do it. If not, we would just rent. We are accepting a counter-offer on this house today. It's darling! It's a 1950's house and is fully updated inside. The pictures really don't do it justice. Its just adorable!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, my brother Tyler and his wife, Nicole, came over for breakfast and to go to the pumpkin patch with us. Maddox rode on his first pony and had a blast picking out a pumpkin.

Hm... what about this one?

I see that smile!

"I'm a big boy!"

This is the one!

Just being his cute self.

Our big helper.

Swinging with Uncle Tyler and Auntie Nicole.

"I'm a little Pumpkin!"

Uncle Tyler shooting the corn gun.

Waiting in line for the pony ride, he had his tickets ready to go.

Here he is giving the guy his tickets. He felt like such a big boy!

Drumroll Please...

2008-10-10T13:25:00.000-07:00

The End.

The Big Day

2008-10-09T20:37:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it's almost here! If all goes as planned and this little 5 1/2 in. baby decides to cooperate tomorrow morning, we'll finally know what it is! Yippee!! I'm so excited! I'll know whether or not to start shopping for little pretty pink things, or if I need to turn into "tough mom" with having 2 boys together! I'll be excited no matter what it is because I think having 2 boys together would be a blast and I also know that having my little princess will also be tons of fun, too. So, we'll see! The polls showing 50/50, so unfortunately, half of you will be wrong :-(

Picture Time!

2008-10-07T09:19:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures. Mostly of our trip a few weeks ago to visit the grandparents.

My grandpa builds small trains that you can ride on and he was running them at a place a little bit out of town where they have this huge track set up. I probably don't have this story entirely true, but I think the first steam engine he ever made was fashioned after the one that Walt Disney made for Disneyland when it first opened. Since then, he's built at least 4 more running engines (1 steam & 3 electric), plus lots of train cars, etc.

Maddox was pretty quiet the whole time we were out there, but we could tell he was loving it because he didn't want to stop riding the trains. This is a picture of Maddox and his Great-Grandpa Ed.

Maddox and Mommy

Maddox and Auntie Nicole

Maddox, Uncle Tyler and Grandpa

This picture needs it's own post, but it happened last week and, well, the whit I had about it is gone because I can't remember all the other terrible things that happened that morning to make it a no-good-awful-very-bad-day. Any way, I am very talented, I broke half my cereal bowls in one fell...er...drop, I guess. I learned my lesson not to fill my hands too full of dishes. I was putting away a stack of 6 bowls and they slipped out of my hands onto the counter and I broke 4 of them. So, now I need to find new cereal bowls because 4 just isn't enough! They were a wedding gift 4 years ago and I'm doubtful that Bed Bath and Beyond still carries them.

On a super fun note, my brother Tyler and his wife Nicole are going to be in town this weekend for her brother's wedding, so we get to spend Saturday with them! I'm really excited to see them!

Be Responsible: VOTE!!!

2008-10-06T08:34:00.000-07:00

Today!

Check out the poll to the right and vote for whether you think the newest Mellander baby is a boy or a girl! We find out on Friday. So far every single person at church that has an opinion says it's a girl.

If you're reading this from the family website: go here to vote directly on my blog.

Oh, and if you feel so inclined as to name the date I'll have said baby feel free to leave that in the comments section. I'm due March 10. And, if you're horribly mean, you could even tell me how long I'll be in labor and if you say more than 12 hours I'll hurt you (I was in labor with Maddox for 36).

I'm Back!

2008-09-29T08:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of postings, Maddox and I spent the week visiting his Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunt and Uncle. We had a really nice time. My mom and I went garage saleing on Saturday morning and scored an entire new wardrobe for Maddox for all of $17! And, it's super cute stuff that I love! So, that made me really happy. I came home to a sick husband who is hopefully feeling better today so that I don't have to send him to the Dr. which he would do kicking and screaming. I'll post more again later, just wanted to update real quick!

Project Ultrasound : Scheduled

2008-09-20T11:08:00.000-07:00

My ultrasound is scheduled for October 10, 2008 at 10:20am.

Me and My Toes

2008-09-18T21:06:00.001-07:00

What is it with me and my poor toes!?! Remember the story of me running my big toe over with a vacuum cleaner? Not one of my finer moments.

Today, I kicked Maddox's riding fire truck and completely broke off my ENTIRE small toe nail on my right foot. It's still attached on one side, and it really hurts!!

I'm not going to take a picture, though because that would be admitting you that I have the same toe nail polish on as I did back in July and as seen in the picture then, it didn't look so hot, so let your imagination run wild.

Looks like my sister-in-law Nicole and I have about the same luck with our toes! As seen here and here. Between both of us in the last few months we've hurt 4 of our 20 toes! Let's not keep this up, k?

We get to find out if the baby is a boy or a girl in 3 weeks!!! If you were to ask Kyle he would tell you it was a waste of time because, well, it's a girl (which, I think, too, but I'm completely aware that it might be a boy, too, which, obviously, would be completely fine because I love boys and, yes, Kyle will be fine with it, too, he just knows it's a girl.) I think that was the most poorly constructed sentance ever, oh well. I have an appt. today and I should be able to schedule the ultrasound, I'm SOOOOO excited!!!!

Party Until 1am?

2008-09-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Maddox thought there was a party going on without him somewhere out there last night, so he decided he couldn't be left out of whatever it was. Kyle and I were awake until after 1am this morning because Maddox would not fall asleep. Now, you have to understand something about Maddox, he always goes right to bed without hardly a fuss and is usually asleep within about 30 min. or so. So, this was a VERY rare thing for him. We were out a little later than usual at the church (Kyle had youth group and I had a baby shower to attend), but were home and he was in bed at 9:30pm. He usually goes to bed at 8:30, so really not that bad at all.

We soothed him just a couple of times, made sure he wasn't thirsty or hungry, but for the most part was left entirely alone, in his bed jabbering up a storm until well past 1am. He wasn't crying, a few times he would fuss to get attention, but talked to himself and "sang" songs to Pooh Bear.

Let's just say, I'm hoping we don't have a repeat tonight.

The End.

Good Gracious

2008-09-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth! Well, actually, I've just been finally feeling better and have been getting this done around here! Wow, amazing, huh? I don't feel fabulous in the morning, but I feel better than I have in months, so I still can get stuff done.

I had a nice relaxing weekend with my boys, so that was very nice, too. I cooked my first "real" dinner in a long time. London broil with a scrumptious marinade I found at foodnetwork.com, boiled red potatoes with a lemon butter sauce I made up and grilled red peppers. YUMMO. Our dinners of late have been lots of Annie's mac & cheese and spaghetti. It was nice to have a real meal.

We finally have some news about the house, but still not a whole lot. The buyer stopped by the house yesterday and said that her lawyers in TX would have the money here within 30 days. What does that mean for us? More limbo! But, we really want to sell the house to her because of the price she offered and such we feel like it's the best option. Hopefully, we can set a close date for 30 days out and she can keep us posted on news from them so that we will for sure know when we can move. It's not too bad, I'm just packing up stuff we don't use very often, (we seem to have a lot of that!) and living simply. I'm really praying that the money comes through so we can move mid-Oct!

That's my update...off to play with my boy and get some stuff done around here.

Ta ta!

13 Week Belly Pic

2008-09-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm 13 weeks and starting to show a bit, I thought I'd post my first belly picture for your enjoyment. The picture on the left is me at 13 weeks this time around. The one on the right with me in the pink was me at 15 weeks when I was pregnant with Maddox.

No News

2008-09-06T00:54:00.000-07:00

We still have yet to hear any new news about the house. The lady purchasing it hasn't been able to touch base with her concrete guy, so, we still sit in limbo. What a fun place to be, let me tell you! Sooner or later, I'm sure we'll move forward. We're supposed to close on Wed. but I'm guessing that's not happening at this point. God really is trying to teach me patience, I'm quite sure of it.

I felt great for 3 days, and then relapsed for a half day (threw up in the morning), a full day (threw up twice) and then felt mediocre today. I'm having more good days then bad days, so that's good!

Maddox was sicky for a couple of days and so was quite grumpy, but was back to his delightful normal self today, thank goodness! Too bad it had to be during my sick days, I wasn't very pleasant, I felt bad being grumpy.