That's What She Said!

Two under two!

2011-07-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

Finally, an update! Life is finally starting to feel a bit more normal with two kiddos under the age of two. We've started going to play group and storytime again and even venture out to the grocery store now and then! I got a double stroller this week and that has helped make life SO much easier! Jared loves riding in the stroller, so he doesn't mind that I tote them around that way.

Jared has done really well having a new baby around. The only time he was ever jealous was when we forgot Evie's pacifier while we were out to eat and we let her use his. He didn't notice it until we were leaving, but you would've thought he was dying the way he reacted! We gave it back to him so that he wouldn't think Evie was taking his stuff away from him. We're slowly breaking him of it again, though. He was so good about not needing it before the move, but as soon as we moved, he wanted it all the time again (plus he was sick, so I guess it wasn't all because of the move). Now he's back to needing it for sleep and still a bit during the day, but mostly only when he's getting sleepy.

Evie is growing so fast! She's eating really well, which has been such a relief to me. I just remember how awful I felt about nursing with Jared. I felt like he just wasn't getting enough, so I started supplementing with formula around 4 months old. I really don't think I'm going to have any issues with Evelyn. Jared wasn't even on the growth charts for the first few months of his life, but Evie is already in the 50% range for both height and weight! At her 1 month visit a couple weeks ago, she weighed 10 lbs 2 oz. I'm sure she's something around 11 lbs by now, the way she's been growing. She's been smiling since she was about 3 weeks old, but I've just recently started trying to catch it on camera. She even smiles at Jared sometimes.

Jared and Evie together are doing great. Jared pats her on the head (don't worry, he's gentle!) and says her name whenever she cries. He even tries to rock her sometimes whenever she's in her car seat. He is such a terrific big brother and I'm so proud of him! I love watching them together. It makes all the hard times so worth it! I know things are getting settled down, since I've actually been able to start trying to organize and clean the house! It's a big house, though, and it doesn't help that Jared just goes behind me and destroys it all again! I will try to take pictures soon, even though it won't really be ready. I'm just facing the fact that I don't think I'll ever be able to have it "picture ready." Oh well!

Evelyn Emma's Arrival!

2011-06-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

It has been way too long since I last wrote on here, but better late than never! Since my last post, we moved to Burlington, KY and delivered our baby girl, Evelyn Emma.

I promise I will take some pictures of the house sometime to put up, but it's really not ready yet! We closed on the house April 15 and our stuff arrived April 21. We had about 5 weeks to make friends and see some of the sights before Evie arrived.

Evie was born Sunday, May 22 at 10:46 am. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 inches long. She had and still has a head full of spikey, dark hair with what looks like lighter highlights. Her delivery story isn't as funny as Jared's, but is still amusing in its own way. I woke up at 5 in the morning from a dream where I was in labor and realized a couple minutes later that I was having contractions. I decided to shower and pack while I timed them for an hour and let Isaac sleep. One hour later, I woke Isaac and showed him the list where I had been recording the times for my contractions and he immediately sprang out of bed and started racing around like a mad man! My contractions had been 3 to 7 minutes apart for that hour. I told him to calm down, because they still didn't really hurt yet. That was exactly why I didn't wake him up at the beginning, though!

We left Jared with some friends from church and were on our way to the hospital by about 6:30. There were virtually no other cars on the road at that time, yet we still got stopped at like 12 of the 15 stoplights on the way to the hospital! I was fine, until I would get a contraction, and then I would ask Isaac to just run them.. we had a good excuse if we got pulled over! haha! He didn't, though. Once we got to the hospital, they took FOREVER to get me admitted, even though I had pre-registered as soon as we had moved into the area. They finally got around to checking me at about 7:30 and I was 4 cm dilated. No big deal, except that I kept telling them that I had my son in about 5 hours, so I go quick. Apparently they didn't believe me. I finally got a room around 8, at which point I was crying with my contractions because they were really starting to hurt. I asked for an epidural and they said I had to get this big bag of IV fluid in me first.. so I finally got my epidural close to 9!

I was able to relax for about an hour before I really started feeling the urge to push. I called in the nurse, she checked me and said that I was definitely ready, she then has me try to push with my next contraction to see how things go. She then calls the doctor to come and stops coaching me to push, so Isaac had to help me during each contraction. I was so confused, though, because the nurse wasn't paying me any attention, so I don't think I was really doing all that I could or should have been. When the doctor finally gets there was when I really started pushing, which was sometime around 10:20. After a couple of pushes, though, I actually started feeling it! My epidural was wearing off!! The doctor told me to stop pushing and they would top me off with more drugs, but I couldn't! It hurt more to not push at that point! So, I pushed through it. I don't think it was quite the same as natural, but I bet I got pretty close this time! I remember picturing the scene of Padme giving birth in Star Wars Episode 3 every time I had to push. I have definitely been married to Isaac for a long time if images of Star Wars pop into my head at a time like that! haha!

For all the pain I went through in this labor, though, I was rewarded immediately by getting to actually hold my baby!! I couldn't stop crying! I was so happy! Even though I could feel every stitch as the doctor had to sew me up.. I got to hold my beautiful, baby girl!!

Our parents all came to meet her a few hours later and brought Jared along, too. He completely melted my heart, because as soon as he walked into the room, he said Mommy and ran to my bed! He didn't hardly notice the baby at all. We got a picture of him "holding" her, but he tried to push her away as soon as we got one picture taken.

Well, that's my labor and delivery story. It was at the St. Elizabeth hospital in Florence, KY, which is an older hospital, so not at all like my experience at the new Clarian hospital with Jared. It was an interesting experience, but I was not surprised to hear from someone that the labor and delivery will be shut down later this year. I guess our next one (a LONG time from now!) will get to be at the nicer hospital! Yay! :-)

My babies are growing up!

2011-02-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

Can you believe how big Jared and his little sister are getting?! We kept trying to get him to rub or kiss my belly for a picture, but of course, he was more interested in the camera and in saying cheese! haha!

Jared absolutely LOVES to draw and color! I really wish now that I hadn't already packed up all the crayons.. Maybe we'll try to get him one of those no mess things so we can keep the house show ready.

We traded babysitting with Kelly and Kyle for the Cincinnati housing tour. Jared and Leon really enjoyed themselves together. This was our first attempt at winding them down for a nap by setting up a movie. They were up playing again after just a few minutes! They were so cute playing together, though!

I don't know what it is with this kid, but he likes to feed other kids. I guess this is one way to get Leon to eat more, Kelly! haha!

Long Overdue Update!

2011-02-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

So much has happened since my last post. It was pretty much Jared's first Christmas (since he was only 4 months old at his actual 1st Christmas), we visited all of my extended family, we found out that we're having a... GIRL!! The biggest news, though, is that we just found out a couple weeks ago that the company Isaac works for is relocating to Cincinnati, OH. Our dilemma now is to either try to sell our house and move BEFORE the baby gets here, or else stay here, have the baby, and THEN move. I think I like the idea of moving before, so that I'm not trying to move and unpack with a newborn! The timing of it was a little unexpected and so we've been slowly recovering from the shock of it all. We've made so many great friends in the wonderful Lafayette community and are sad to leave them, but we're very excited to move closer to family and have the opportunity to go house hunting again!

Enjoy a few catch up photos!

Jared's new dance moves!

2010-12-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

Jared loves to play with my iPod Touch and figured out how to play some music today. He must have typed in "L" in the search screen, because it was just playing Linkin Park songs. As soon as the music started, we looked over to see Jared shaking his shoulders and bobbing his head! It was the funniest thing! I didn't quite catch that on video, but I did get a couple of cute clips with him dancing a little bit. Enjoy!

Jared & His New Girlfriend

2010-11-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

My friend, Kate, and I traded kids so we could each go see the new Harry Potter with our hubbies. Monday, Jared went over to Kate's house and played with her daughter, Ashlyn. Kate was telling me later that they would peek over the couch at each other and say, "Hi!" back and forth. Also, they would chase each other around the furniture. When we were leaving, Ashlyn begrudgingly gave Jared a kiss and he had the goofiest grin on his face for a whole minute afterwards! It was adorable! I was definitely looking forward to seeing them play together the next day when Ashlyn came over. These pictures are all I really got, but they were really cute together! He followed her around like a little puppy!

The Month of October

2010-11-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy month for us, but Jared has really enjoyed it. We basically spent almost 2 straight weeks with his grandparents, so he was pretty spoiled! I just need to add that I'm sorry for the weird paragraphs. I don't know if Blogger has changed, but for whatever reason, I can't seem to just type what I want wherever I want it anymore. I hope this will still make sense! If not, I guess just enjoy the pictures!

We started out at my parent's house to visit with my sister, Kayla, while she was in town. As you can see, Jared gets the royal treatment from Grammy!

Kayla was blowing raspberries on his belly and I don't think he knew what to do about it! haha!

My grandpa, my dad and my son all playing together! Well, Jared was stuffing his face with Cherrios while everyone else entertained him.

Mom, the kids and the grandboy!

We had a Star Wars party to go to in Charlestown that weekend. Isaac was wearing his Jedi robe and Jared was Yoda (yes, that is the same costume from last year!). If you're wondering, that is a bruise on his cheek from falling onto the pedal on my parent's exercise bike.

Jared's favorite character was Darth Vader. He made his father very proud! It was really funny, though, because he got mad at first when Vader wouldn't hold him!

Our son is now officially part of the Mayor's photo op! Those were all the characters at the party.

Isaac getting choked by Vader!

After the Star Wars Party, we went home for about 3 days before heading out to Nauvoo, IL with Isaac's parents. This was us at the Visitor's Center.

Luckily, it doesn't appear that my son has the same allergies as me... yet! As soon as he came back to the car, I started sneezing and getting all congested. He loved the horse, though!

Jared and his grandpa took a little walk around the temple. We did get to attend while we were there, which was so great. The Nauvoo temple is so gorgeous!

Jared was really fascinated with the river! He probably could have stayed out there for quite a while entertaining himself!

He loved the wagon, and yes, he's standing on a barrell. I was right there, though, see my fingers?! I was freaking out, but Isaac kept telling me to move so he could get a picture! haha! I'm glad now, because this is so stinkin cute!

The last bit of busyness this month was my doctor's appointment last week, where it was in fact confirmed that there is a little Baby Hall on the way. It's funny, because we just decided in August that we wanted to start trying again, and apparently that was all it took! Baby #2 should be due sometime around May 24. I'm just hoping I won't go early again and end up in labor on my birthday!

First Haircut and other Misc. Items to Catch up!

2010-10-08T18:33:00.001-07:00

It's so hard to find the time to blog when the little guy is always wanting to "help" if I try while he's awake. We've had quite a bit happen this last month. Jared started walking more and will almost choose to walk over crawling for the most part. Jared's hair was getting so shaggy, we had to give his first haircut, even though it was really more of a trim around the ears and back of the head. We attended (and helped set up and prepare for) Abe and Jenny's wedding reception. I had a baby shower here at my house for a friend from church. Also, Cockapoo few away a couple weeks ago, and we've not heard or seen anything since. I don't think Jared even really notices, but we do want to get another bird, because it was really helping teach him to share and also to be gentle. We helped babysit for the Ward Temple Trip last month. We rode on the bus up to Chicago and then we were dropped off at a nearby Stake Center with 30+ kids! There were other babysitters, but it was still pretty crazy! It was great to see the temple, though, and thanks Lynn for taking a picture for us! Yes, the last picture is a tomato that Jared is eating like an apple! He helped himself to it from my little tomato plant out back. He obviously doesn't take after his daddy here (Isaac hates tomatoes!)! Here are some picture updates!

First Steps!

2010-09-10T09:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry its been so long since my last post, but I've got great news: Jared started walking last week! We were visiting my parents and he just decided to up and take some steps! Here are a couple of videos of his first attempts at walking.

Our 5 Year Anniversary & Jared's 1st B-day!

2010-08-14T11:21:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was an extremely busy one! We celebrated our 5 year anniversary Friday and Jared's first birthday on Monday. For our anniversary, we left Jared with his grandparents (both sets took turns!) and we left for a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. It was really neat, because the cabin we rented on our honeymoon was just across the way from ours.

Here's this year's anniversary picture. True story about the bear sign: I always want to see things like bears, crocodiles and sharks in the wild, but I'm absolutely terrified of them at the same time. Thanks to this sign and one posted in the kitchen telling about how bears will wander through the yard at night on their way to the dumpsters, I had nightmares the first night about bears and kept waking up because I thought I heard one at the window! haha!

I absolutely loved our front porch! The hot tub was so relaxing, especially since Isaac ended up with a kidney infection and we ended up just chilling out at the cabin all day Saturday.

My breakfast spot every morning!

This was the creek that our front porch overlooked. I love the sound of babbling water! :-)

I've always wanted to go to one of the dinner & show things in TN, so we tried out the Black Bear Jamboree. It was kinda silly, but we enjoyed ourselves for the most part. The food was okay, although the soup really was as amazing as all the reviews said it was. They performed music of different genres and times. The music was fun, except that we realized that the 70's really sucked!

Afterwards, we checked out the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. It was pretty fun. I'll admit, some of it was hard to believe! :-)

I LOVE my mother-in-law! I almost cried when I found out that she was going to make Jared a cookie monster cake! I felt bad asking her to do this for me, since we woulnd't get back until time for the party, so I only asked for a plain cake. Of course, I wanted something special for Jared's first birthday, but I didn't want to put anyone out to do it. So, basically, THANK YOU, Momma Hall for being so amazing!

Jared couldn't get enough of the cake! He was licking his plate clean!

Here's my favorite shot! I think Isaac took a picture on the camcorder at the same time, so the timing was just right and I was actually able to capture a pretty cute picture of a very messy little man!

We took Jared to Benihana in Indy on his actual birthday (Monday).

I think he enjoyed it! He was stuffing noodles into his mouth in this picture! He really enjoyed the noodles, fried rice, zucchini and just the show in general!

Our little family picture inside Benihana! He was enjoying that straw! haha!

Fun with Friends

2010-07-27T19:37:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, we had our friends, Ryan & Vanessa, come up to visit. We're trying to persuade them that they should move up here, so, of course, we had to take them to check out our free zoo!

We also had to take them to all you can eat sushi at the Legend Buffet! The kids seemed to enjoy it pretty well, although I think Jared thought they were crazy! haha!

Copper and Jared had a blast together!

I have to add a picture of Jared sharing a snack with Cockapoo!

Graduations & Indianapolis Zoo

2010-06-29T18:19:00.001-07:00

I started babysitting my girls again a couple weeks ago. They have passes for the Tropicanoe Cove water park here in Lafayette, so we went! We were there for about 4 hours and Jared LOVED it! It was like a giant bathtub that Mommy didn't take him out of after only 10 minutes of playtime! :-)
My sister, Stephanie, graduated Friday night, so my grandparents all came in. They last saw Jared over Christmas, so they were shocked at how much bigger he is!

Steph, Sean (boyfriend), Soda-pop and Jared

Jared was tired and very unhappy and Copper just couldn't figure out what was going on! haha! So cute!

Rachel's graduation was Saturday evening. Mom Hall's brother and sister-in-law came in from California. It was nice since I hadn't met them before and they got to meet little Jared. Plus, it didn't hurt that they played catch-up on gift giving and we got a belated wedding present and Jared got some new clothes (thank goodness! that boy is growing!). :-)

The Shark Touch Tank! Jared started reaching out to touch one of the sharks swimming by and it raised up out of the water! It freaked me out and I jerked him away instinctively, even though they don't even have teeth! haha! I went with my friend, Jamie, and her family and friends and she got the picture of the shark trying to get Jared! :-)

He loved the elephants! Look, its a Mommy and Baby!! :-)

We caught the elephant show, although Jared was sound asleep in his stoller. I took pictures so he could see later! :-)

This was in the dome below the dolphin tank. Of course, anytime the dolphins would swim by, Jared wouldn't be looking! There was one time where he did actually see one swim by and he got so excited!

If you can't tell, that's a walrus in the background! I don't think Jared knew what to think of it. Next to us are Dillan and Brooklyn, Jamie's little niece and nephew. (Sorry if the spelling is wrong!)

We've had a very busy last couple of weeks, but we've really enjoyed all our time with friends and family!

Indiana Beach

2010-06-08T17:39:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was a free trip to Indiana Beach through Isaac's work. We were surprised at how much fun we were able to have with Jared in tow.

You can't really tell from these pictures, but he really enjoyed the Merry Go Round. We rode it twice! :-)

We hung out with Isaac's Boss' family and they would watch Jared for us now and then so we could ride some of the older rides. It was so nice of them! Hannah was my ride buddy whenever Isaac would stay behind with Jared. This picture was on the little train ride.

Letting Jared get his wiggles out! :-)

We were on the old fashioned car ride and I am NOT good at taking pictures like this! Sorry!

Jared just looked so cute in his stroller!

Isaac and I FINALLY cleared out all the overgrowth on our walkway and re-mulched. It took some time (and some plant eating by Jared) but it looks soooo much better! If you've been to our house in the past year, you know what I'm talking about! :-)

Jared and I try to keep in touch with friends. This was at Pepe's with Kelly and Leon. We sat them next to each other so they could entertain one another.

Every Tuesday, Jared and I go to play group. He loves to play with Quintyn! They are only a couple months apart in age, so they keep up with each other pretty well!
I made homemade barbeque chicken pizza for dinner the other night and Jared LOVED eating the crust! He was shoveling it in as fast as he could. It was too cute to pass up a picture! :-)

Ride on, little cowboy!

2010-05-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

I found a cute little rocking chair at Goodwill for $4 and it's just his size!

He loves being Mommy's little cowboy!

This is the onesie my grandma (Jared's Great Granny Lane) got for Jared. It says, "Somebody in Liberty, KY loves me!" I'm going to send her a copy of this picture.

Jared discovered the laundry room today and wanted to help me with his load of laundry! He seriously sat in front of the washing machine for about 10 minutes watching the clothes spin around! So cute, but he was sitting right in the doorway, so I couldn't get a good picture of that.

FLORIDA!

2010-05-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Our Trip began on my birthday. Isaac came home early with 24 roses for my 24th birthday and my visit teachers dropped off a bucket of goodies for the trip. I admit that I teared up a bit! It was so sweet!

Once we arrived, we dropped Jared off with his grandparents and Isaac took me to Kobe's Japanese Restaurant. It was nice to have a night out together!
Before we left, though, I had to feed the munchkin!

We split up the trip into 3 hour driving segments with a 1.5 to 2 hour break between. It worked out perfectly with Jared's naps, so there was very little crying. :)

Isaac had an Actuarial Symposium to attend in Tampa, so Jared and I checked out the Florida Aquarium near our hotel. He LOVED it, and as you can see, he especially liked the alligators and I think they liked him! Yikes! He kept swatting at them through the glass! :)

We weren't allowed to touch, so Jared got really mad at me for holding him back! There was a penguin promenade where we got to sit around a carpet and let them walk right up to us. I tried taking some video on Isaac's iPhone, but it was hard to take a good shot while containing a struggling little dude!

There was a little porthole, so I let Jared play a bit and he climbed up to peek inside.

A sweet older couple asked if they could take our picture for us because we looked so cute sitting there! I loved the people in Florida! They were so sweet! :)

Jared really enjoyed the beach. He ate a couple handfuls of sand when we weren't looking.

He liked just playing in the waves.

So cute!

He wasn't too happy before we got to the water, though.

Cool dude!

All tuckered out from a day of swimming in the pool!

Daddy was tired, too! :)

A VERY wrinkled little foot! :)

Jared hanging out with Uncle Abe and future Aunt Jenny!

Abe & Jenny's dog, Bella, was always trying to lick Jared's face. He thought it was hilarious at first and then he got really mad.

Drive-In

2010-05-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we drove to the Lake Shore Drive-in at Monticello. We laid down the back seat and brought the futon matress and tons of pillows so we could chill out in the back and let Jared crawl around during the movies.

If you can't tell, Jared was staring at the light above my head. What is the fascination with lights for kids?! :)

Jared loved crawling around in the back and pulling himself up on the window! He even fell asleep about a half hour into the first movie and slept the rest of the time! I love my little man! :)

He absolutely gets a kick out of Cockapoo. He just laughs and laughs!

He was sharing his crackers with her and just laughing! So cute!

It's been a while!

2010-05-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Our laptop died, so we have to use the desktop to do anything and its so much slower that we hate to use it. I finally uploaded some pictures, though, and thought I'd blog about what's been going on around here.

Jared started crawling about a week ago.

and of course the first thing he goes for is the TV stand full of "no-no's!"

I found a new suit since he finally grew into 6-9 month clothing!

Long story short, my mom basically broke her foot recently, so Jared and I went down to visit last week. My dad rushed home after work and this is how I found him! Grandparents are so cute! :)

Jared LOVES dogs and apparently Soda-pop didn't care to have a baby bouncing on his back!

First time in the big bathtub!

Such a cutie! He LOVES to splash around in the tub! He even face planted in the water and still didn't care! My little tough guy! :)

I decided to take him to the zoo today to see if he liked it. He really didn't care too much, but he was also getting really tired. This was in front of the new River Otter exhibit. You could actually watch them swim by underwater, or even crawl through a tunnel and watch them swim around you! I LOVE our little zoo, especially since its free! :) He did at least look at the singing dogs!

Hawaiian Hut!

2010-04-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Kelly and I decided to get together for lunch this past Wednesday. We braved it with the little guys in tow, and I say braved it because neither one of them had taken a nap yet! If you haven't been to the Hawaiian Hut in West Lafayette, you should! It was SOOO good! A bit pricey, but totally worth it! The decor was really fun, too! Just thinking about it is making me crave it again! :)

Leon's face cracked me up in this one!

Best buds already! Jared absolutely adores both Kelly and Leon! :)

Leon wanted to sit in my lap, and then Jared got jealous and wanted to as well! Thanks, Kelly, for grabbing the camera and capturing this adorable moment! :)

Jared has two more teeth coming in, but they're the incisor teeth on the sides and not his front teeth. I couldn't get him to hold still long enough to get a better picture of both sides coming in. Although, I guess by looking at this picture, it does appear that one of his front teeth is trying to poke through as well! Crazy! This kid is going to have 5 teeth by the time he's 8 months old (which is actually tomorrow, so I guess it would technically be a bit later than 8 months)!

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

2010-04-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

My Aunt gave Jared this adorable little Easter sleeper with bunny ears and a little tail, so of course I had to try it out on Easter!

He loves playing with his daddy!

He was cracking up at this little bunny!

He can really get around now, just by rolling all over the place! He can finally get himself into a sitting position from lying down without any help. I guess its time to lower the crib!

A friend of mine gave me the idea of putting all Jared's toys in a box for him to "find" and play with. He loves digging around in the box for things and really enjoys the actual box, too! I'd like to find something a bit prettier than a box to have in our living room, but until I find it, I guess the box will do.

Visiting Grandparents

2010-03-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

We went down for Grandma Hall's 75th Birthday last weekend and Jared really enjoyed spending time with all his grandparents!

After reading a friend's blog, I decided to try Jared with some Sesame Street, and...

He LOVED it! I also had about 30 minutes of uninteruppted "mommy" time! Awesome!

My little brother stayed part of the week and Jared LOVES him! Stevie will never be able to get away from him once he starts crawling! :)

Look at that toothy little grin!!!

Enjoying some Rock Band! He actually fell asleep during it! We've trained him well! haha!
A nice little family picture before they left. Yay, I actually remembered to get out the camera!

While the weather was nice, we went out for walks everyday. He would fall asleep everytime! What a terrific little guy!

This Little Piggy...

2010-03-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Not only does he love to play with his feet, but this little piggy has gained another 2 lbs in a month! He now weighs 14 lbs 11 oz!

I'm in for some trouble if he can make this big of a mess already!

He kept trying to grab the camera. He was talking to me in this one. Just yesterday, he started saying, "Da da da da!" It was even cuter since he was saying it really loud while Isaac was taking a nap and it woke him up. That's about the only time I've ever seen Isaac wake up smiling! I love this little man more and more every day!

6 Month Update

2010-03-09T17:36:00.000-08:00

I forgot to turn the flash off, so he blinked in this one, but he's just too cute!He finally started sitting up on his own about a week after he turned 6 months old.

I recently discovered that an old friend from my freshman year at IUPUI moved to the Lafayette area and had a little boy just 3 1/2 months after I had Jared! We LOVE our play dates together. The boys are really hitting it off, too! It's so cute! We can't wait for nicer weather so we can go to the park and the zoo and later the waterpark!!
My mom was possibly more excited than me about Jared starting baby food! We definitely have some baby food storage going on now!
My mom also had fun letting Jared pick out a few new toys this past weekend. He LOVES driving his little toy! Look at that smile!

He likes to honk the horn and it says, "Beep, beep, out of the way!" He's going to have major road rage! haha!

He's getting used to the sippy cup now. He was totally relaxing while drinking his juice.

He was sooo exhausted today that he fell asleep with the sippy cup hanging from his mouth. While Isaac was burping him, he was still asleep and just sat there with his head hanging over Isaac's arm! Poor little guy. I let him try prunes today and he was very unhappy the rest of the day. I won't be doing that again. He had a major blow out (Finally!) around 7 and was happy again.

Attack of the Giant Spider! Eek!

2010-02-26T12:22:00.000-08:00

This photo was taken after it was killed and I'm not going anywhere near that thing, so Isaac can clean it up when he gets home! (shiver)

I HATE spiders! I'm sure you can imagine the adrenaline rush when I saw this bad boy! I had just finished giving Jared a baby food feeding and was carrying him into the living room when I spotted the nasty creature. I swear that thing was the size of one of those fake spider rings at Halloween, which also freak me out by the way! haha! I quickly laid Jared down in a different room, ran and grabbed a shoe and the bug spray and rushed back to find the spider darting under the carpet! Eew! Luckily, he came back out and I sprayed that thing until it was barely able to move, then I smashed it with the shoe to make sure it wasn't going anywhere and then I sprayed it some more! Just another tidbit of information, as if all this doesn't make your skin crawl enough, I'm pretty sure this is the same spider that I thought was dead in the closet several months ago but had disappeared by the time I came back to kill it.. I hate when I find things like this. It makes me wonder what else is lurking in the corners and I don't want to think about that! I am rather proud of myself, though! Super Mom to the rescue! haha! Now I can't wait until Jared is old enough to want to kill them for me! haha!

Belated Superbowl Post

2010-02-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

We had a Superbowl party at our house this year with several of our friends in the area. It was really fun because we had the guys that wanted to exclusively watch the game in the theater upstairs and the girls downstairs playing games and talking with the game on in the background. It was a full house with about 14 people and 4 little ones! We overplanned a bit with the cookout and had enough leftovers to eat lunches all week! Crazy! :)

I think Jared enjoyed his first Superbowl! My mom got a Colts outfit from a friend and it was just the right size for him! Too bad they didn't win.. I thought this picture was funny because it looks like Jared is disappointed that the Colts lost! haha!

This picture is blurry because Jared can't stay upright on his own for very long yet and falls forward every time. Apparently, his head is too big in proportion to his body, so he's going to have to work a little harder to stay upright! haha! He does take after his daddy! :)

Jared & His Grammy!

2010-01-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to imagine the emotions felt when your firstborn has a baby. I'm the oldest in my family and having a baby has brought me and my mom even closer. She has always LOVED babies, so you can imagine how much more she loves her own little grandson! Jared must realize this, because he is totally in love with her! Every time he sees a picture or hears her voice on the phone, his little eyes get big and he gets so excited!

My family came up to visit this past weekend, and I got some pretty cute pictures of Jared with his Grammy!

What a snuggly boy!

How cute is that face!?!

Playing some computer games together! Mom said he kept trying to grab the animals on the screen! :)

Jared loves his rice cereal as much as Grammy liked feeding it to him!

Yummy!

Feet!

2010-01-21T15:49:00.001-08:00

Jared has recently discovered that he can grab his feet and suck on his toes! I love it! I don't know why the pictures are upside down.. sorry!

Isaac's parents came up this past weekend. Jared just LOVES all his grandparents!

He adores his grandpa! I love that look on his face!

Jared finally took notice of Cockapoo and boy does he get excited whenever he sees her! He's always trying to pet her, too!

He was getting ready to try to pet her in this picture! It was hard to get any pictures with them together because he was always trying to pet Cockapoo, which would make her fly away! :)

First Cereal Feeding

2010-01-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

We gave Jared his first rice cereal feeding last Wednesday and he loved it! We actually remembered to get the camcorder out and caught it on film. He was cracking us up! I would love to hear how any of you have integrated the cereal feedings into your child's schedule. For instance, how much did you feed them at the beginning and then as time went on, how often did you feed them, etc. I just love being able to learn from those who have been there before! :)

Snowed In!

2010-01-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

Jared wanted to help me write my blog this time! How cute is that!

He was mesmerized by the laptop!

We ended up with about 5 inches of snow last week.

I sat Jared in front of the sliding door so he could see the snow.

He LOVED it!
Of course, I told him he has to learn to catch snowflakes on his tongue!

During tummy time, he decided he only wants to roll over halfway.

...and thinks its hilarious when I try to encourage him to roll over all the way!

Isaac finally built his theater and we love watching movies together on the big screen. Jared especially enjoys it!

Christmas Eve, Morning and then some!

2010-01-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Where has the time gone?! Jared will be 5 months old in two days! He is so much fun and I love watching him grow and develop. Although, he hasn't been doing so well with the growing part. I took him in for his 4 month check-up and shots and he only weighed 10 lbs, which wasn't even on the growth chart where they tell you the percentile for your baby. About 3 weeks later, I took him in for a weight check and he had gained 6 oz, which isn't really ideal, but isn't really bad either. The doctor didn't seem too worried, but she had me schedule him for another weight check 2.5 weeks later this time. I also got a formula sample from her (for my own peace of mind) to give him a supplement at night. We go back next week, but I really think its going to be good news this time! He seems to be doing better, although they weren't kidding about formula poops.. YUCK! I'm now in the market for a diaper genie!

I haven't posted on here in a LONG time, so I have lots of pictures to put up! Mostly from Jared's first Christmas, which went really well. We had so much fun showing him off to all the family. He had a little too much fun and got onto some ridiculous sleep schedule that involved waking up like a newborn again and took me about a week to adjust back to a normal schedule!

Isaac finished the theater in time for our New Year's Eve party. We had a lot of fun, even though all our friends had to bail on us and it ended up just being family. We got to meet Abe's girlfriend, Jenny, and we all loved her, especially Jared! He would just stare at her whenever she was close by. It was so cute, but of course, I forgot to take any pictures the entire time her and Abe were up.. Trust me, I beat myself up all the time for forgetting to take pictures!

Here are the pictures I did remember to take!

Jared absolutely loves looking at himself in the mirror, so I finally caught it on film! :) His Christmas Day outfit: Red long johns (I had no idea there were long johns for babies!) underneath a onesie that reads My First Christmas. His hat actually goes with the outfit he wore for Christmas Eve, but it looked cute with this too!

Meeting his future best friend, Copper, for the first time! What's really funny is Jared is about 4 months older, but Copper almost outweighs him already! Copper isn't even chuncky yet, he's just really long (and sooo cute)!

This was Jared's Christmas Eve outfit. I thought his facial expression was too cute! Its almost as though he knows he's about to get presents and lots of money from everyone! :)

He finally got to meet all of his great-grandparents, although I forgot to take pictures on my mom's side.. Once again, I'm beating myself up over that!

My Granny Lane made Jared a baby quilt. I actually got to pick out the quilt blocks at the baby shower, so it was really neat to see it all put together!

This was everyone relaxing/playing games at my parent's house Christmas Day. Mom was getting a kick out of Jared gnawing her finger to death! I think he may be starting to teeth... To be continued! :)

Christmas is around the corner!

2009-12-10T19:03:00.001-08:00

My silly boys!

What's up?! :)

It took some teamwork between Isaac and I, but we got a good picture of him laughing!

As Isaac likes to say, this was Jared trying to be like Jesus! :)

New Haircut!

2009-12-03T19:33:00.001-08:00

I went to Christina & Company for the first time tonight and LOVED it! It was such a nice treat for myself! I even got my eyebrows waxed for the first time. It was such a shock to see my hair so short, but I think I'm really going to like having such an easy hairstyle to take care of!

Jared Collage

2009-11-30T12:37:00.000-08:00

Isaac's insomnia paid off this time! He put together an adorable little collage of most of our favorite pictures of Jared.

Suit up!

2009-11-24T19:01:00.001-08:00

My mom came up to visit this past weekend and bought Jared an adorable little Winnie the Pooh suit. It's a pair of dress slacks, a button-up shirt and a sweater vest. He looks soo cute in it!

I love how he has his tongue sticking out in this picture! :)

What a handsome little guy!

Doesn't it look like he's choking Isaac!?! haha!

Me and my baby!!

My little Thumbsucker!

2009-11-17T19:27:00.001-08:00

Jared has started playing with his little blankie bear that his Great-Grandma got for him. He absolutely loves sucking on the corners and just cracks up! I got a few cute pictures, but of course they are slightly blurry.. At least I caught a smile this time! :)

He started sucking his hand/thumb/fingers about a week ago. I LOVE it, because he actually sleeps longer at night now! He used to wake up whenever his pacifier would fall out, but now he can pacify himself!

He farted! haha!

Tickling Jared

2009-11-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

We finally caught some smiles on video! My favorite parts are him farting when he gets too excited and the look on his face when I couldn't stop cracking up! Enjoy!

Camera shy...

2009-11-12T12:32:00.000-08:00

Everytime I try to take pictures of Jared when he's smiling, he always sees the camera and stops smiling. Even when he was smiling in his sleep, he started to wake up and stopped smiling as soon as I started to take a picture!

I even tried to be sneaky and take a picture when Isaac was holding him, but that didn't really work for very long. I got one decent picture out of it before he started staring at the camera. Apparently Isaac can get good pictures of Jared with his iPhone. I guess Jared hasn't figured out what it is yet!

The Cutest Yoda EVER!

2009-11-10T13:50:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I still haven't posted pictures of my little man from his first Halloween yet! He was Yoda, although his costume was a bit too big! They only had size 6-12 month. When I took him in to find costumes in newborn size, a saleslady was helping me and started grabbing toddler sizes. She started to pull it out of the package and said, "Do you think this is going to be too small? You've got a chunker!" He was sleeping in his sling, so I guess maybe the sling adds like 10 pounds?! I then told her that he wears 3 month clothing and weighs around 9 lbs. She was a little shocked. She obviously has not had any children! haha!

He was all tuckered out after the trunk or treating! :)

Roll Over!

2009-10-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Jared rolled over this morning! He was crying and upset during tummy time and just flipped himself right over! He looked a bit confused when he was no longer on his tummy! I think this may have been a fluke roll over, but I will try to get video of it to post next time!

We also had the worst night EVER last night.. He was so gassy, I could hear his little tummy gurgling. I kept trying to burp him and hold him in different positions, but nothing really helped. He just kept crying. He cried from about 11 pm until 2 am! Finally, after his 2 am feeding, he burped and promptly fell asleep.. until 7 am! He's still a bit fussy this morning, but much better. He's asleep right now and I think I'm going to take advantage of this nap opportunity as well!

Splish Splash!

2009-10-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

What better way is there to enjoy a rainy day except to take a bath and relax in your comfy bathrobe with your rubber ducky pals!?!

See! It's the life! I love this little guy!

Enjoying the Fall Weather!

2009-10-21T12:58:00.001-07:00

We've had such lovely weather the past couple days, so of course I took the boy out for walks and he LOVED it! I just love the look on his face! He is now 2.5 months old.. I just can't believe how quickly he's growing up!It's blurry, as usual, but look at that smile! He really likes for me to play peek-a-boo with him!

My mom brought me the book, On Becoming Babywise, which is supposed to help your baby sleep through the night. So far, we're having good and bad moments with it.. This was a bad moment because he wouldn't fall asleep until his daddy held him..

Watching Monday night football already!?!

Isaac has one of the Star War's movies on his iPhone and discovered that Jared is already a fan! Look at that concentration!

2 month shots..

2009-10-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

Watching my little man looking at me in complete shock and pain when he was jabbed with the needle was the worst thing I've ever had to see! He slept all day after that and every time he woke up and saw me he would just cry.. I felt like the worst mommy ever! Of course, when daddy came home, he was all fun and games though! We got some cute pictures of him holding his head up really well!

There are his little bandaids on his legs.. poor little man.. although, he doesn't seem to mind anymore. His legs were hurting him a little earlier today, but I gave him some Tylenol and he seems to be feeling much better.

Jared Starts Smiling!!

2009-10-06T06:10:00.001-07:00

It is sooo hard to get a picture of this little guy smiling, but here are some blurry images for your enjoyment! He's such a ham, though! Look at him staring right at the camera! haha!

I also have some more miscellaneous pictures since I haven't blogged in a while:

This is my favorite of his sleeping poses!

These are his pooping faces! It cracks me up!

Father and son playing Rock Band! Seriously, Jared can sleep through anything, which makes me extremely happy!

Lots of pictures!!

2009-09-23T00:28:00.000-07:00

First of all, I have to say a special thank you to my friend, Kelly, who took some amazing photos of me and Jared! Check them out by clicking here. Just a warning, you're not going to be able to stop smiling! She totally captured the cuteness of my little man!

Sadly, our first family photo was when I took him into Daddy's work when he was almost 6 weeks old. We just always forgot to have anyone take our picture when we were all together. I was really impressed by how good he was at Isaac's work. He slept for the most part, even when he was being passed around among 6 or 7 people! :)

My mom came up this past weekend and hung out with me and Jared for a few days and also babysat Friday night so Isaac and I could go out on our first date since Jared arrived! It was so nice to be able to hang out with Mom during the day and Isaac in the evening! Look at how much he loves his Grammy already! He's even smiling in his sleep! :)

He seems to really enjoy his little play mat now! I actually layed him down for about 1/2 an hour while I got dinner started and even some dishes washed up before he started crying!

I absolutely love nap times with my little man! Wow, he definitely has my chin! haha! He looks like a little chunker in this picture!

Little Blood Scare

2009-09-15T11:43:00.000-07:00

Clarian Arnett Hospital

Saturday, we noticed blood in Jared's diaper, so we took him to the ER after being told to do so by the nurse hotline. We brought in the diaper from earlier that we had noticed the blood and they tested it to see if it was in fact blood. It did not show up as blood on the test so they told me to take him to his pediatrician Monday for a follow up visit to be sure everything was okay. He ended up having another blood diaper Sunday afternoon and then as we walked into his doctor's appointment Monday. Luckily, that diaper was fresh enough that the test showed that it was blood. The doctor checked him out and he is otherwise perfectly healthy, so he's having me stop eating all dairy products for this week to see if things get better. If so, then Jared may have a temporary intolerance to cow's milk, which apparently is pretty common with newborns. I never realized how much of what I eat contains milk! Hopefully my poor little guy will get better soon! Its so pitiful to see him screaming bloody murder with those bloody poops...
(this picture was actually when he dropped his pacifier during a bath, but you get the idea!)

Time flies!

2009-09-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

My baby is a month old already! This past weekend was Jared's baby blessing, so all of our families came up for that. Abe got to meet his nephew for the first time. It was such a special day and I was thrilled to have everyone there to share it with us. I'm so thankful for the love and support that they have given us (also our good friends in the area!). I truly feel blessed right now, even if I am extremely exhausted! I love being a mommy and I am loving almost every minute of this.. I just can't wait until he starts sleeping through the night! :)He loves chillin' on daddy's tummy!

He was holding the bottle all by himself!!

Feeding him his vitamins

First Bath!

2009-09-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

It seemed like he was going to enjoy bathtime at first..

at least until he dropped his pacifier!

He was sooo much happier once he was wrapped up in his warm towel

and Mommy was happy to have a clean, happy little boy!

Milk Drunk!

2009-08-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

One of the nurses at the hospital used the phrase "milk drunk" when they saw Jared after eating and I fell in love with the phrase. It totally captures his expressions perfectly! He just cracks me up! I guess these are the moments that keep all new mommies sane after long nights of endless feedings! I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

My little man

2009-08-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

He absolutely loves his swing!

even when he's being a grumpy little man!

We started doing tummy time with him

everyone wants to join in, including Cockapoo

then he realized that he was hungry and tried to eat the blanket My little angel!

My girls came to visit and hold baby Jared

He doesn't really enjoy his sponge baths... but he looks so cute!

PICTURES!!!

2009-08-24T13:53:00.001-07:00

Our internet is working again, so I'm going to put up the pictures that we have so far! Kelly is going to come take pictures for me later this week, which I'm sooo super excited about! She is the best photographer and I know she'll be able to capture the cuteness of baby Jared much better than we can! :)

Before (around 7 pm)

After (around 1 am)

Poor little guy all hooked up in NICU.. As soon as he heard mine and Isaac's voice, he calmed right down! So cute!

Mommy and baby together for the first time! I only slept about an hour that night worrying about my little man.

What a proud daddy! They look so much alike!

I think Isaac held Jared more than me and you can tell that Jared really enjoys his daddy time! Our little angel!

We were so excited when we finally got to go home!

So was baby Jared! He was soo alert the whole time we were leaving!

I have to add this picture because this explains the foot wedged in my ribs during the pregnancy! He loves to kick his legs up in the air, which makes it very difficult to keep a blanket on him! :)

Things are settling down and I think I'm kind of getting the hang of things, so maybe I can keep this updated a little better!

Jared Alexander Has Arrived!

2009-08-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

First of all, I apologize in taking so long to get this up here! I had NO idea how hard it would be having a baby around! It seems like all I ever do is feed the baby, pump, change diapers, and occasionally get in a nap.. I have REALLY appreciated all the help we've received from church members, family and friends. I don't know what I would have done without them! Okay, now for the baby story before its time for another feeding!

At about 5:45, Isaac and I were hanging out at Best Buy when my water broke! That's how you know its a boy, right! He wanted to hang out at Best Buy, too! haha! We hurried home to pack our bag and were checked into the hospital by 7. We found out that I was 3 cm dilated and about 60% effaced and the baby was at the zero station mark. By 9, I was 4 to 5 cm dilated and 80-90% effaced, so I was allowed to get my epidural. By midnight, I was told to start pushing and Jared Alexander arrived at 12:32! He weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and measured 19.5 inches long! He has a head full of dark hair like his daddy (actually, the same hair line too! haha!) and dark blue eyes for now! He is such a handsome little man!

He didn't cry when he came out and was having trouble breathing on his own, so NICU took over as soon as he came out. Also, I'm a carrier of the Group B, and because the labor went so quickly, I didn't receive the full dose of antibiotics before he was born, so he had to be on antibiotics. I didn't get to hold him until the following morning, when they removed the CPAP thing and his feeding tube. That was pretty depressing, but he is doing much better now. We went home Thursday, August 13th. He weighed 5 lbs 15 oz when we left the hospital. He has his next doctor's appointment on Monday, so we'll see just how well he actually is doing now.

I must attend to the feeding of my hungry little man now, but I promise to put up pictures as soon as I am able.. which is also difficult since I can only use the internet when Isaac is home (he has the internet on his iPhone that I can tether since our internet isn't working). Hope this can satisfy for now!

4 Year Anniversary!

2009-08-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, I promised my mom I would put up an updated belly picture. Here's the preggo belly at 36 weeks 5 days. I can't believe that this kiddo could arrive anytime within the next month! I also can't imagine getting any bigger than this! Please tell me that the belly growth slows down at this point!

This year's anniversary, we had to stay relatively close to home, since I'm so close to popping. In the past, we've gone to Sybaris, Little Nashville, IN, and The Melting Pot. We still had a great time this year just chilling at home and going to Buffalo Wild Wings! Hey, it doesn't hurt to try a little spicy, right?! haha! We brought home 30 wings for us to have pizza and wings the next day and have a lazy movie day. I really love just being able to spend time with Isaac. He truly is my best friend and I'm enjoying this little weekend we can have together just the two of us.. especially since it may be our last for a while!

Countdown begins?!

2009-07-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

I had another doctor appointment today and they checked my cervix this time. I am now about a centimeter dilated and 50-60% effaced. Also, the baby is stationed around the -1 to 0 mark. She said I could go within the next couple of weeks, but I know better than to think that! I'm just going to be pessimistically optimistic about that! He has definitely dropped, though! I can tell because I feel the added pressure on my pelvis (and bladder!). He is head down, facing my back, but he really likes to stick his foot in my ribs and push his butt out as far as possible at my belly button. I have stretch marks all around my belly button from this kid! I thought I had a bruise, too, but it just turned out to be a very peculiar circular stretch mark! Oh, the joys of being pregnant.. Everyone tells me to sleep while I still can, but I think they've forgotten how completely uncomfortable it is to try to sleep with a watermelon that beats you in your sleep! :)

Is that a Basketball?!

2009-07-13T17:48:00.000-07:00

Wow! I totally just realized the other day that I only have 7 weeks left! Crazy! I'm now 33 weeks pregnant and cannot imagine getting any bigger, although I know its going to happen! We're almost done with our birthing prep classes and just need to pick up about $250 worth of baby stuff left on our registries! Luckily, the gift cards and money we received from the showers amounts to... $250! Amazing how that worked out, huh?!

I had my doctor appointment last Friday and everything is still going well. I measured 32 cm, which is right on, even though everyone always thinks I look way huge for how far along I am.. Oh well! I've gained a little over 25 lbs at this point in the pregnancy.. I can't wait to lose it! I wouldn't be so upset with gaining so much weight if it were just my belly, but I now have huge arms and legs and even a double chin! It's so reassuring to see all my friends that have had babies and how quickly they lose that baby weight! I will say this, though, I'm not complaining about going up 2 cup sizes!! haha!

Alicia's Wedding & Christa's baby!

2009-07-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Alicia and David's ceremony turned out amazing! The weather was perfect and the location was beautiful! David gave Bailey a ring as well! They make such a cute little family! Alicia's dress was so gorgeous and her ring.. talk about major bling! :)

The drive down was a bit uncomfortable, considering I was 32 weeks pregnant! We had fun hanging out with family, though!

I love my little asian man!! Isaac, of course, had to show off his newfound talent of "popping" the fans open! haha! He's so cute!!

On our way back home from the wedding, we stopped by one of my best friend's from college and saw her new baby! Christa looks great already, and its only been 3 weeks since she had little Saebra! The baby was adorable! She slept pretty much the entire time we were there, but we did get a little peek at those beautiful baby eyes!

Feelin the baby blues..

2009-06-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

I guess you could say its just the pregnancy hormones running rampant in my system, but I feel completely overwhelmed, stressed and depressed today.. I have NO idea why I feel this way!
*I'm already a stay-at-home mom to be!

*I only babysit 3 days out of the week, plus I get to take naps while they're here!

*Even though Isaac has started studying for his FSA exam, I still get to eat dinner with him and talk for an hour afterward!

What in the world am I so worked up about?! I seriously just cried for the past half hour for what seems to be no reason at all! I really need to get over this so I can finish up with the nursery! and clean up the house before family comes up this weekend.. I think my nesting instincts are driving me crazy because I just don't have the energy to do very much of the stuff that I REALLY want to get done. I think I feel better now that I've gotten it off my chest! I guess I'll give in to some of the nesting instincts for now.. but then its TV and ice cream time! I think a day of crazy mood swings deserves it, right?! haha!

Fun in the Nursery!

2009-06-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

Cockapoo and I had fun playing in the Nursery yesterday! We ended up spending about 3 hours sorting through all the gifts from both baby showers and taking fun little pictures! Cockapoo absolutely adores all the baby stuff! Its cute because she's so curious about everything, including my belly! She LOVES to just sit on my belly and have me pet her!

I couldn't help but have some fun with the belly pictures! I look WAY huge in these! haha!

Cockapoo loves getting her picture taken! She'll look right at the camera!

The aftermath of trying to go through and organize all the shower gifts! This little dude has plenty of clothes! Also, he ended up with 20 blankets! Wow! Do I really need that many?!

I just LOVE this little bath robe!! Even if its not very useful for a baby.. its WAY too cute!! I can't wait to take pictures of the little dude in it!!

Look at all the cute little shoes and booties!! These are just the newborn sizes! I just can't wait to dress up my little dude!

Cockapoo, Queen of the Diaper Cake! I told you she loves all things baby!! She was just chillin on top of the cake while I was putting some stuff away! haha! I can't wait to see how she reacts to the little one!

Baby Shower #2

2009-06-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

My mom and mother-in-law threw me a baby shower back home (southern IN) this past weekend. It turned out really well! We ended up with about 30 people there and still more people were bringing gifts later that couldn't make it to the shower! This little dude will want for nothing! haha! I'll just post pictures and make comments so this doesn't just ramble on forever!

The Pooh blanket was made by my amazingly talented mother-in-law! I absolutely adore this blanket! Can't you tell by that expression on my face! I think they caught me in the middle of an "Aww!!" haha!

I got a diaper cake!! I just think these are sooo cute!! I almost don't want to take it apart!

The many gifts for the baby!! It was so much fun to open all of them and get to play with all the cute baby stuff!!

Here's one view of some of the guests at my shower.

These are some of my aunts, cousins, and my grandma on my mom's side of the family. They came in from 3 hours away in KY, which was amazing and totally unexpected for me! This picture was taken shortly before the shower was supposed to start (at 2:00), but at 2:05, my grandma yelled across the room to my mom, "Hey Cricket, I thought this was supposed to start at 2." She then proceeds to get herself a snack from the table while my mom was saying that we were going to bless the food so we could get started.. My grandma then says, "Well, I'm getting me some nuts, so you can wait a minute." She cracks me up!!

My cute little 7 year old cousins! The one on the left got a little too excited about wanting to "feel" the baby in my belly and I about threw up on her! Part of that was probably also from me eating so much yummy cake! Now that I think about it, I'm sure the heat played a part in that as well.. We couldn't adjust the temperature for the building, so it was 78 degrees in there.. I was melting!

My mom-in-law made this!! How cute is that!! It was homemade icing, too, which was sooo yummy!!

I have to add a picture of our baby on the trip back home! Cockapoo really does LOVE air conditioning! This time, she would tuck her head under her wings while she spread them out! She still did the "flying" thing too, but I had to post this one!

My only regret from the shower is that I didn't get my picture taken with anyone! How could I forget to do that!?! That was one of my favorite things about Kelly's pictures at my first baby shower! I'm just not in a photographer mindset I guess!

Quick Update!

2009-06-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, Kelly posted pictures from the baby shower on her blog. To see the pictures, click here. She did an excellent job with the shower and of course the pictures turned out great!! I feel so blessed to have her as a friend and also to have all the friends that came to my shower up here! I love all of you so much!!

I also wanted to say that I PASSED MY GLUCOSE TEST!! Yay! I was really nervous about it because my mom had gestational diabetes with all of her kids.

Baby Shower #2 is tomorrow back in southern Indiana with all the family and family friends! Hopefully the baby kicks a lot for everyone! He's been SO active lately and it's starting to hurt! I went on the Relief Society Temple trip yesterday, and during the session, he kept kicking me so hard that I would jump out of my seat a little bit! I think the people around me found it a bit amusing! :)

Baby Shower #1!!

2009-06-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my first baby shower for friends up here in the Lafayette area. My friend, Kelly, threw a wonderful shower for me at her new house, even though she has a 4 month old! I just can't thank her enough! She even took lots of amazing pictures for me (sorry, can't post any yet!) which is terrific, since I totally forgot to get my camera out at the shower! We had a lovely little Brunch of muffins, fruit & yogurt cups, and strawberry shortcakes out on their screened in porch. It was such a beautiful day outside too! Just perfect! It was a small gathering of some friends in the area so it was a lot of fun to be able to just hang out with friends for a couple hours!

THANKS to Kelly, most of all, and to everyone that came! The gifts are adorable!

On a side note, I should hear back about my glucose test sometime this week.. Hopefully, I passed! :)

Cockapoo in "flight"

2009-06-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

We went down to visit family this weekend and on the car ride down, Cockapoo discovered air conditioning!

It was so funny! At first, we couldn't figure out what she was doing, because she would just rub up on Isaac's face and then she would kind of spread her wings. Eventually, though, she was "flying" with the air beneath her wings! haha!

She also discovered the smaller vent blowing at me, but was definitely not impressed and hopped back over to Isaac. Too funny!

Just for a little update.. It's not the best picture, but here's my belly at 27 weeks!

Classic Pooh Nursery!!

2009-05-22T16:20:00.001-07:00

I finally finished up in the nursery today. My mom had brought up a bunch of baby clothes for me last week and I spent the day putting those away (and looking at the cuteness of them all once again!) and just organizing everything so it looked cute! I love this first picture, because that's what you see as you first walk into the room, which is something I do everytime I pass by! :)

Here's a bit of a closer picture of the bedding! I LOVE piglet! Pooh is on the opposite side.

This quilt was the deciding factor for my purchase of the bedding set! Its soo cute, yet boy-ishly blue! I fell in love with it!

I found this bookshelf at the local flea market and thought it would work very nicely in the nursery! Eventually (after the baby showers) I will use it to store blankets, toys, books, etc. I've already started the baby book, which is shown on the second shelf on the right. I can't help but be so excited! How can you NOT be excited with all the cute baby stuff! :)

Birthday fun!

2009-05-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

I had a terrific birthday this year! Isaac took me out to Benihanas that night for dinner and we ordered sushi (don't worry, they cooked it for me!) which I was totally excited about! Mmm! I LOVE sushi!! We also stopped by Payless on the way home and picked up an Oreo cake! Double Yum! My mom came up yesterday to take me shopping to pick out some maternity clothes for my birthday. I found a cute top and a pair of comfy, yet dressy looking pants! We also walked over to the local pizza place in town and had a nice, relaxing lunch. Of course, we couldn't resist looking at baby stuff while we were out shopping and ended up getting a baby bassinet, a few more cute little outfits (oh, I forgot to mention that Mom came up with a HUGE bag full of baby clothes she picked up at a yard sale!), and random nursery items. As soon as I have the energy to finish up organizing everything, I will definitely take some pictures to post of the nursery!

To top off the wonderful day, I begged my friend, Kelly, to go out with her hubby and allow me and my mom to watch their adorable little boy! I absolutely cannot wait to have my own little munchkin here!! It melted my heart when Isaac asked if he could hold him for a bit! I got the cutest picture of the two of them together! Isaac is going to be such a good daddy! :)

Christa's Baby Shower!!

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

Yesterday, I went to my best friend's baby shower, Christa Beach Melton! It was so crazy to see her so big since she's always been such a stick!! She is having a little girl and is due July 9th! I can't wait! Its been so nice to have several of my good friends having babies around the same time!

This picture ended up a little blurry, but I think its so awesome that her and her older sister are only 3 weeks apart!! Here are the cute little outfits that Kelly and I picked out for Christa! We had so much fun shopping for a little girl since we both only get to shop for little boy stuff right now!

These are my favorite pictures of us together!! Its funny because when I left that morning, I thought I looked HUGE, but then I was around Christa (32 weeks) and Miranda (35 weeks) and realized that I've got a LONG way to go yet! :)

Wow! The Kicking!

2009-05-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't wrote on here in a while, but I wanted to mention that the little boy in my belly has been kicking like crazy! I seriously just felt him repeatedly kick me in the same spot for about a minute! I think I was sitting at a weird angle for him and he wanted me to move because as soon as I did, the kicking stopped! haha! I LOVE feeling the little kicks and nudges throughout the day (probably because they don't hurt yet!)! It makes all the other uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy worthwhile. Oh, I can apparently already sing him to sleep! He started kicking me as soon as I layed down the other night, so I started singing me and Isaac's song to him, and he stopped! I just thought that was too cute! He finally let Isaac feel a kick the other night! I've been trying to get Isaac to feel it for a few weeks now, but everytime he would put his hand on my belly, the baby would stop kicking! I think I was more excited about Isaac feeling the kick than he was.. I guess its just not something that guys really want to ooh and aah over like we girls do! I don't want to leave a bad impression or anything, though, so I should definitely mention that Isaac IS excited about the baby, just not in the same ways as me! Its too cute when he comes home from work and rubs my belly or kisses it goodnight! I can't wait until we finally get to see our little guy!

IT'S A BOY!!!

2009-04-15T17:21:00.001-07:00

We went in for my 20 week ultrasound yesterday and found out that we're having a BOY!! We're so excited! Isaac felt like it was going to be a boy all along, and I really had no idea! I absolutely LOVE seeing our baby moving around on the screen! He's such a cutie already!

Another big thing today was that I actually FELT him kick from the outside! I've felt him moving around a lot more lately! He really enjoys using my bladder or stomach as a punching bag! It's definitely the coolest feeling in the world though!

Isaac and I went out to O'Charley's that night to celebrate and also took some preggie pics for my 20 week mark! I'm definitely feeling pregnant now!

Just for comparison, I thought I'd put the 10 week and 20 week ultrasounds side by side! Oh, how they grow!!

New Belly Pics!

2009-03-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd just try out having Ella, the four year old, take some pictures for me and see how they turned out.. I was totally expecting for me to be headless or not even in the pictures at all. Surprisingly, she actually got me in the pictures and they actually look decent! I just had to share that because I thought it was awesome!

I am now 16 weeks and definitely "popping!" I haven't really felt anything moving again recently, so I'm beginning to doubt that I ever felt anything to begin with.. I'm really excited about this feeling more like a baby and less like I'm just getting really fat!!

Oh, I guess I should also mention that the pictures were taken in the nursery. The theme is Classic Pooh. I absolutely LOVE it, even if it is a common theme.. Its just so darn cute! Plus, I can find stuff for it almost anywhere!

The picture to the left is where the crib will go.. We're planning on going crib shopping sometime in May! I can't wait! I have an idea of what I really want, but I guess we'll see what I can convince Isaac to agree to!
The picture below is our "rocker" for the nursery! We just moved the recliner from the living room into the nursery, since I'm sure it will be used a LOT more when this baby arrives!! I can just kick back and even take a nap if need be! Motherhood is all about finding ways to make things work together, right?! haha!

FLORIDA Trip!

2009-03-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

We went to visit Isaac's brother, Abe, in Deltona, FL last week. He has an absolutely gorgeous home and silly me, I completely forgot to take any pictures! We mostly relaxed the whole week, enjoying the sunny 80 degree weather by the pool! We did a few low key things since amusement parks were out of the picture for me this year.. Last year we went to Disney World with Abe. This year we went to the beach, saw an NBA game and baseball spring training game (both were my first times going!), had a cook out to meet Abe's friends, and Isaac took me to a Marine Science Center where they rehabilitate birds and sea turtles (we thought it would be more aquarium-like.. it was really small.. although, we did show up for feeding time which was pretty cool!) Surprisingly, I DIDN'T get a sunburn!! Yay!!

I was 15 weeks pregnant while in Florida, and I feel like I'm definitely showing now! Its funny, though, because people that don't know me kind of do a double take like, "Is she pregnant or just pudgy?" Isaac is even amazed at my belly now and rubs it every time he sees me. Its so cute! I told him that the baby's hearing is developing this week, so he made up a little lullaby where he replaced some of the lines to "Rock-a-bye baby." It was really funny, but I'm not going to repeat it, because if you know Isaac, then you know that it is possibly offensive to others.. He just likes to say stuff like that in jest because its so outlandish anyway that nobody should believe he's being serious!

Here are some pictures of us in FL!

Here's us on the long drive down.. 16 hours! Cockapoo actually enjoyed driving. I guess the view from a moving vehicle made her feel like she was flying!

The ocean was beautiful, of course, but still a little too chilly for our liking.. It must not have been too bad, since there were lots of other people actually swimming! It always cracks me up seeing pictures like this, though, because I'm so white compared to Isaac! I hope our little baby gets his skin tone!

This is actually my favorite picture of me and Isaac from this trip! His face cracks me up! Plus, I actually look a little bit tan! Yay! We were at Sonny's BBQ, which is one of our favorite places to go when traveling down south!

The giant seashell was outside the Marine Science Center.. We weren't really sure if it was real, but thought it was cool nonetheless! I love that you can kinda see my belly even from a front view right here! I love manatees and was hoping to see a real one, but they only had a fake.. Oh well.. Mother & Baby and a Mother with Baby! Aww!!

These were taken on a nature trail outside the science center. I saw the little cigarette "Butts" can and had to take that opportunity for a nice little picture! haha! It really cracked me up when I realized that it looked like the preggie couldn't make it to a real restroom in the jungle!

Okay, so I had a little trouble getting all these pictures on here to look right with the text.. I hope you can still enjoy them a bit! I will have to try to get a better belly picture for my "progression!"

Baby Update!

2009-03-04T09:44:00.000-08:00

My second doctor's appointment was yesterday. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! They also scheduled me for my 20 week ultrasound on April 14th. We definitely want to know what we're having! My second trimester is definitely going better already, although I'm still very tired all the time! We're driving to Florida this weekend and staying with my brother-in-law for the week. I'm hoping that the drive down won't be TOO horrible! I bought some maternity pants and a few shirts so I can be a little more comfortable. I'm actually going to take a nap now, but I will definitely get a belly picture up again soon! Maybe I'll take one while we're in Florida! :^)

First Maternity Shirt!

2009-02-19T08:57:00.000-08:00

We went to dinner Tuesday night with my father-in-law and I decided to wear my new maternity top! I am starting to show already, but it definitely usually depends on what I'm wearing. Well, this top definitely had me showing a bit!

Isaac's dad loved it! He got a picture of me on his phone to show Mom later. I didn't think I would enjoy all the preggie attention, but I LOVE it! It just allows for me to feel like others are as excited about all this as I am! Actually, I have a cute story from the other night that just melted my heart! I was changing into my nightgown and I looked over and Isaac had a big smile on his face. When I asked why he was smiling, he said, "I'm smiling at my baby!" Aww!! I couldn't ask for a better hubby!!!

I guess I should also mention that I am now 12 weeks pregnant. I also couldn't button my dress pants that night.. I can still wear my regular jeans, but probably not for much longer though! I also want to thank my friend, Laura, for going shopping with me to get a few new items for my expanding waistline! We had a little fun with the tummy pillows in the dressing room! haha!

"Morning Sickness"

2009-02-16T15:12:00.000-08:00

I think I've been one of the lucky few in this aspect of pregnancy only for the simple fact that I've thrown up once and that was it. Although, I really don't know that any preggie is ever "lucky" in pregnancy! I don't throw up, but almost everything makes me nauseous! I just thought it would be kind of fun to make a list of all the weird, random things going on with my body now-a-days!

*Weird, Random Preggie Aversions:
Chicken of any sort, except for hot wings!
Pork chops
Bread (just by the loaf though.. I know, weird!)
Mushrooms
Spaghetti
Water (only when I've been drinking too much of it in one day)
Saltines (I burnt that one out pretty quick!)

*Preggie Food I CAN Eat:
Wendy's Jr.Bacon Cheeseburger and a Salad
Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme and Cheesy Bean & Rice Burrito
BWW's HOT WINGS!!
FRUIT (dried, fresh, whatever!)
Pickles! (I always laugh when I do eat these though!)
Ice cream, pudding or popsicles
Cheese & Crackers (pepperjack & colbyjack!)
Soup! (as long as there's no chicken!)
Cheeseburgers & Hot Dogs (grilled!)
Scrambled eggs (I guess this one is a little weird since a lot of preggies can't stomach eggs)

I really appreciate Isaac for being so understanding through all of this, because this list is seriously all we've eaten for the past couple months! We have seriously ate out WAY too much and I do feel guilty for that.. but I just don't really want to make a meal that I'm not sure if I can even eat! Plus the meals I can make just aren't enough for Isaac.. Seriously, that boy is not going to be able to live off cheese & crackers and pickles!

I also feel that I should add that I'm actually a little grateful to have the nausea right now just so I know I'm still pregnant! I know in the months to come I'll feel the baby kick or just plain LOOK pregnant, but for now it has definitely been a reassurance to me that everything is okay!

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

2009-02-11T10:18:00.000-08:00

I've been babysitting a 4 year old for about half a year now, so its almost as though I'm going through this pregnancy with a child of my own to take care of as well. She's as excited about this as if it were going to be her own new sibling. It's really cute! When I first told her that I was pregnant, she immediately rubbed my belly and asked if she could feel the baby move (which of course she couldn't because I was only like 8 weeks at the time). I've had some really cute little discussions with her whenever she asks me a question about the baby. Hopefully I can do these justice, because they really were endearing! Its funny the things a child will think to ask sometimes, too!

Ella: "Sonny, what does your baby eat?"
Me: "Right now, it eats whatever I eat."
Ella: "Well, babies eat milk, so you should drink more milk!"

--I never thought I would have to steer clear of 4 year old pregnancy know-it-alls! haha!--

(When I showed her the ultrasound pictures)
Ella: "Did he move around a lot?"
Me: "Yes, he was dancing all over the place!"
Ella: (Placing her hand on my belly) "Can I feel it!"
Me: "Nope, he's still way too little!"
Ella: "How big is he?"
Me: "About this big." (holding up my fingers to about 1.5 inches)
Ella: "Wow, that's really cute!"

--I probably should just mention that I am only 11 weeks along and have no idea what the gender is yet.. We just call it a boy because its easier.. :^)

(Ella knows one of my good friends, Kelly, who just had a baby, so that has made for some fun conversations as well! This one took place shortly before Kelly had the baby.)
Ella: "Did Kelly have the baby yet?!"
Me: "No, not yet"
Ella: "Oh, she must be bigger and bigger!"
(I then show her some pictures on facebook of Kelly's belly progression)
Ella: "Aww! She looks so cute!"

This kid just cracks me up! Who would have thought that a 4 year old could come up with some of this! I can't wait to see her reaction to when we can start feeling the baby move!

Start of a New Life!

2009-02-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

Something about blogging just really triggers maternal instincts or something! After seeing the baby via ultrasound and hearing the little heartbeat, I immediately wanted to start a blog so I could share every little detail about this exciting new adventure!! Isaac and I had been trying for about 3 months before getting a positive test back. We actually found out the day after Christmas, so talk about a terrific present to our parents, especially considering its the first grandbaby for both sets! Just as a funny little side note, my mom has already bought plates, napkins and utensils for a baby shower! My Estimated Due Date is August 29. The ultrasound pictures are at 10 weeks pregnant and boy oh boy that is one active little baby in there! As soon as the picture came up on the screen, all you could see were little arms and legs dancing all over the place! I'm hoping that maybe this means I might actually feel the baby move sooner or at least know for sure the first time it happens!

This will be our first baby, although its almost as though I have a kid already since I've been babysitting Ella for about half a year now. When I told her that I was pregnant, she immediately rubbed my belly and asked if she could feel the baby move. Of course I'm still far too early and don't really even have much of a baby bump yet anyway. I told her that the next time I see her, I can show her pictures of the baby and she looked at me a little confused and asked if I was going to have the baby already! I had to then explain that the doctor was going to take pictures of the baby inside my belly. I can't wait to see her reaction to the pictures! Its kind of fun to try to figure out how to explain things like this to a four year old! She asked me one day what the baby eats, so I told her that the baby eats whatever I eat. She then told me that I needed to start drinking milk because thats what babies eat! Sometimes it completely wears me out having her around, but its moments like those that make it so worthwhile! I can't wait to have one of my own!!