12.23.10 Bringing Home Baby

Though slightly nervous about now having two children to care for, we were anxious to get our disacharge papers, and be home with our newest addition. By ten, we were on our way to start our new lifes together!

12.22.10 Falling in Love

We spent our entire day today either exhausted and asleep, or staring at the beautiful little girl who had changed our lifes. She has such chubby cheeks, you just want to nibble on them. She seems to be a great little baby, hardly ever crying, and she took to breastfeeding like a natural. It didn't take long, I definately fell in love with my daughter today.

12.21.10 Ashlyn is Born!

Much to my suprise, my doctor took one look at me, and indeed said, "Do you want to go to the hospital to have this baby today?" I don't think I have moved that fast in months. I practically leaped off the table! I was almost 6 cm dialated! After our experience with Jakob's birth, we had our bags in the car, just in case, so we went straight to the hospital and got busy! It was a pretty easy labor, and I didnt have any of the complications I had when we had Jakob, which was great. At 4:02pm, after only two small pushes, Ashlyn was born, weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs, 2 ozs, 21" long. She had lots of BRUNETTE hair (yippee!). Mom and Jessica were there to share the experience with us. What a wonderful day!

12.20.10 All Nighter

I suppose this picture was technically taken on the 21st, but since I never went to sleep, I felt this would be okay to use. Jeff and I had really hoped to have the baby today, ever since we found out we were pregnant, we had hoped she would be born on the 20th, so we would have time to get home before Christmas, but yet I would be technically, "full term". I decided to do every old wifes tale I could bear to try and convince Ashlyn to make her big debut. We tried sex, walking for hours upon hours, and lastly I ate an entire pineapple, making my tongue feel like a big dead fish. The only thing I had left was that it was full moon that night, a lunar eclipse in fact. The contractions started about 10pm, and lasted all night. They were consistent, seven minutes apart, but never got more intense or more close together, which frustrated me immensely. They hurt enough I couldn't sleep through them, but no worse then the bogus ones from the weekend that had turned out to be doing nothng to progress my labor. At around 3 am, I decided to try and take a hot bath to help with the uncomfortableness. I got so mad at our poor hot water heater, which couldn't even fill a tub in the cold of the night. I ended up having to shower, but had only cold water left. I was furious, cursing and screaming at the bathroom for existing. I just kept watching the clock tick the minutes past. I had an appt with the doctor first thing in the morning, and I hoped she would say, "Oh my, you need to go to the hospital", but I was so defeated that I knew this would never happen. I was going to be pregnant forever. And tired. And cranky.

12.19.10 Hospital and a Party!?

Woke up this morning to pretty decent contractions that were about four minutes apart. After an hour and a half, though I was skeptical and nervous to call it the big moment, I decided we should go get checked out. My sister was having an ornament party that day, and I really wanted to go to it. I knew if we went to the hospital, we would be there for several hours, and I knew if we got sent home, I would still want to make it to her party. SO, in we went thinking this could be the big day. We were so excited. The nurse said she was pretty sure this was it based on my contractions (they were coming steadily when we first arrived and I was dialated almost to 4cm). She said they would check me in two hours to make sure I was progressing. What a long two hours, especially since I thought I had stopped contracting during that time. I was right, and when she rechecked me, there was no progress and the contractions had stopped. Home we went again, happy to not have to deliver our baby to a strange doctor, but sad that today was not the day.

Jessica's party was great as always. I gorged on the delicous food. It seems like every year, Jessica jacks my ornament at the last minute. This year was no exception....so I chose to use the pic of her smiling with what should have been my ornament! I guess since she is the hostess I won't complain too much, and I did end up with a cute ornament also. I just love this party!

12.18.10 Decorating Sugar Cookies

I actually really like this picture of me, which is something I rarely say these days. That was probably the best sugar cookie I decorated too, so that helps! Mom made a bunch of cookies for us to decorate for her office party and Jessica's ornament party. It was fun, but Jakob definately overdid it on the sugar, eating cookies every chance he could get. By about 6:30 that night, he was off the walls. Luckily it was in a fun way, he didn't melt down...and went to bed easily. He was pretty darn loopy though.

12.17.10 Pedicure Day

I have been trying desperately to keep busy so I don't dwell on the impending birth, and today I decided it was time to treat myself to a pedicure. My last one was around my fifth month, and I haven't been able to reach my toes since then, so they were looking pretty sad. Mom and Jessica went with me, which was awesome. I feel like I have been getting to spend alot of time with them lately, which I love. Too bad we can't all just not work. That would rock.

12.16.10 Santa and more trains!

We took Jakob to see Santa today, his third visit, since he was 9 days old the first year. I was a little worried he was at that age where he would freak out, but he did really good. He gave us some great shots to choose from, and never did cry, although you could tell at the end when Santa started talking to him he was a little freaked out. We asked my sister to go with us too, which was great, because she walked around with him while we waited in line. We also got to see the train exhibit, which was awesome. It was a huge room filled with cityscapes and lionel trainsets running everywhere. Jakob of course was in love, and probably would have stayed there all day if we let him. It was alot of fun!

12.15.10 Lights? Pretty...

After picking up Jakob from daycare tonight, I decided to drive him around our neighborhood to show his some Christmas lights. I didn't know how interested he would be in it, so after a couple streets we went home. When I turned onto our street though he got real upset and asked for more lights, so I kept driving. We drove around for about 45 minutes when we stumbled upon this jewel. A house across the creek had a huge display in their back yard, complete with music, a dancing santa, and even, a TRAIN! They gave free rides on it every night, so we decided to ride it. Jakob absolutely loved it. He was so cute, all the way home he kept sayings... "Lights?" Pretty..."

12.14.10 Train?

By far, Jakob's favorite new toy is his trainset from Tia and Tio. He drives us crazy because he will play with it for hours, but insists that you sit with him and play too. He will only let you play with certain trains, and go in a certain direction on the track. He never gets tired of it and trying to coax him away to do anything (like eat, change your diaper, take a bath, etc.), is nearly impossible. He has another piece coming for Christmas, so it will hopefully make it more interesting for us...but it may only fuel his new obsession with trains!

12.13.10 1st Trip to L&D

After Jakob's bday party excitement, I was getting ready for bed and realized I hadn't felt the baby move all day. Not unusual since I wasn't focusing on my belly at all throughout the day. I laid down and drank some water in prep for bed, and waited for the kicks to start. The doctor said if there are ever less than 4 an hour to call immeadiately. I waited and waited. Usually the movements start a few minutes after settling in. At 45 minutes, I had still felt no movement, I called Jeff in because I was starting to freak out. He laid beside me with his hand on my belly and tried talking to her...nothing. Finally at an hour and fifteen minutes, still having felt nothing...I decided to call the doctor. Byt his point it was after midnight, but I was officially concerned. SO was the doctor, and she told us to go to the hospital to get checked out just to be safe. My sister came over to sit with Jakob (he was asleep of course). As soon as they got us hooked up to the monitors at the hospital, the baby started wiggling all around. Everything was great, and I felt like an idiot. She kept stressing to me how important it is to call or come in though if you are not feeling movement and how I shouldn't feel bad. It was almost 4 by the time we got home and to bed. What a long night.

12.12.10 Jakob's Bday Party

We kept it low key this year, inviting only family. I didn't even make cupcakes, just bought a cookie cake. For decorations, I only got helium and balloons...since he loves balloons. We had about 60 with ribbons so he could grab them, and boy did he! He was so happy and had a blast playing with all his favorite people at his party.

12.11.10 Officially 2!

I can't believe it has been tow years since this little piece of heaven came into our lifes. It's hard to even remember what life was like without him, and I wouldn't change it for a second. His big bday gift from us was the aquarium, and we had it all set up when he woke up he came out and noticed it immeadiately. He loves it and will stand there and say, "mmm...fish, mmmm...bubbles, mmmm.....rocks, mmmmm.....water, mmmmmm....plants". He loves to feed them too, I think the gift was a hit.

12.10.10 Jakob takes a maternity photo!

Can't say I like this one any more than the ones from Pennys, but for a two yr old, he has talent! He even handed me the block, which happened to have an A on it. SO I sat it on my tummy and said cheese, and this is the result. That kid loves taking pictures, and is definately getting better about getting things in the pictures, other than just ceilings and his grubby little fingers.

12.9.10 Jakob's 2 Year Portraits

Today my sister and I took Jakob to Grapevine to take his 2 yr portraits on some railroad tracks and vintage rail cars. He isn't big on smiling, or even looking at the camera, but she did manage to get some pretty great shots that I love. This is only one I took! =)

12.8.10 Baby Date!

This time seeing the doctor was good...my swelling had gone back down finally, and all of my tests came back ok. I got to see my doctor, and we set a date to induce, if I don't go into labor before that of course. It still seems far away, but is really just 3 short weeks away. Definately a day to circle on my calender though!

12.7.10 Oh, what a beautiful morning!

So, after waking up an hour later on my first day of maternity leave, I went to work to drop off my lesson plans. I felt so relieved to not have to go put in another full day, that I couldn't help notice how beautiful the sun was rising in our neighorhood. I pulled over to get a good photo.

12.6.10 Throwing in the Towel

After having to suddenly leave work twice last week for doctor's appointments, Saturday my feet swelled up to this monstrosity. You can't even call them cankles because my ankles are actually BIGGER than anything else. Its like they were broken, or hit with a baseball bat. Plus, it's hard to see, but half of my leg is red like it is sunburned, whcih could be a sign of blood clots (rare, but something they of course wanted me to get checked out). So Monday when the swelling had not gone back down, I called and had to leave work again. I am so stressed from everything and feel so guilty everyday abandoning my job at the last minute, that despite my strong desire to make it the last two weeks of work, I decided it was time to start my maternity leave. My boss was very understanding, as was my wonderful husband who said the exact right thing, as always, when it matters. I left at noon, and despite the sweilling, felt some relief from the pressure.

12.5.10 Maternity Pics

I am not super happy about how these pics turned out, but at least I have some. And you get what you paid for, and I only spent like $20, so oh well. I got no good shots of just me or my belly, but at least got a cute family shot, and one ok one of Jeff and I, and one of Jakob kissing my belly that is kind of cute. I think the pictures are way too dark, should have used a different color backdrop...but what do I know? I felt kind of bad for the lady trying to sell me the pics because I was pretty negative. I think at one point I actually said, "Whose dumb idea is it to take pictures of yourself when you are the fattest you have ever been!?" Poor girl...I bet she was glad when I left. =)

12.4.10 Tories B-day Party

We went to our friends birthday party today. She was actually born on Decemebr 25th, two weeks exactly AFTER Jakob, but for obvious reasons, they decided to celebrate early this year. Torie loves Dora, which worked out for me since Jakob does too. He was quite excited about the big Dora balloon and even wore the hat. I love this picture! He was so well behaved too, made me proud.

12.3.10 Getting a Haircut!

Much overdue, and I wanted to go even shorter, but think I need to lose some weight first (after baby comes of course). I couldn't get in with my normal stylist, and after two failed attempts just went somewhere else. I am getting maternity pics done this weekend and wanted a change before then. Plus I figured now was the time to cut it short because I will be off work with the baby so if it looks terrible, who cares! I actually kinda like it, though I do still wish it was shorter. It's super easy and thats what I wanted.

12.2.10 Packing a Bag

I can't believe it took me this long to get a bag packed, but I finally did it. I am ready now, should we get a suprise again, to rush to the hospital at any time. It's kind of annoying too though to stare at the bag every day wondering when I will need it.

12.1.10 The Holding Room

Well my finally finished nursery didn't stay nice for long. It is now so crowded with birthday presents, Christmas presents, and party things, that you can hardly get around in it. I don't know where we are going to hide things next year with no extra room anymore...we need a bigger house!

11.30.10 Book Nut

Jakob loves to read. He climbs up in the rocking chair in his room now (where we read to him every night) and reads to himself. I draped a blanket on his lap to keep his feet warm, and he sat there for like 30 minutes reading out loud to himself and me. It was cute.

11.29.10 Yeah Waffles!

This week I finally got Jakob to try waffles. He loved them and now whenever he gets them he hollars, "Yeah, waffles!"

11.28.10 The Stockings Were Hung

I didn't do much decorating this year. After the tree and the presents, I had little energy to do much else. I did hang the stockings, including the only new addition to our holiday decor-a stocking for Ashlyn. Whether she ends up being here by Christmas or not, I didn't want to leave her out...and the stocking was on sale for $5!

11.27.10 Wrap Party!

With only a couple things left to buy, and the tree up and decorated, it was time to wrap the presents. It took forever, and unfortunately lots of our gifts this year are small, so they look slightly sad under the tree. Oh well, at least Jaob seems to be leaving them alone.

11.26.10 Black Friday

I was even more excited for the bargains on Black Friday than the food on Thanksgiving. I had mapped out my Toys R Us plan for weeks, been to the store to plot my map, and made list after list. There were four things I wanted, two were for Jeff and I, and we also told Jeffs parents and mom we would pick up something for them. TRU actually opened at 10pm Thanksgiving night, and we went at 9:15 expecting a line. What we saw was so far out of my expectations, first I was mad at myself for not taking a picture, but it would not have done it justice. There had to be 1500 people in line already. The line wrapped from TRU, past Babies R Us, past petco, around the side of the building, and continued on behind, wrapping back past petco, BRU, TRU, and even the home goods store. Maybe if it wasn't 38 degrees out, or if I wasn't 8 months pregnant, but I knew there was no way we were getting the doorbuster things I had wanted, heck we probably wouldn't even get into the store till midnight since there has to be a law about how many people can fit inside, and I knew all those people could not fit. So we went to a movie, and came back at about 1:30 We were able to get into the store, but still had to wait in a line that lasted about 1 hr. And the only thing we got from our list was the thing for Jeff's parents, which I found ironic. Oh well. On Friday, I did manage to run to Walmart for hot wheels, and Michaels for a scrapbook for Ashlyn, and Petsmart to look at an aquarium. It actually ended up being the best deal I got all day, because they were also out of the one advertised, but substituted the nicer one for it, so I got a $55 aquarium for $23! I also learned a valuable lesson which is parents are crazy, and I doubt I will ever try the doorbuster sale at TRU again!

11.25.10 Thanksgiving

I was pretty excited for Thanksgiving, but Jakob seemts to be hitting his terrible twos in full swing about now. It was just me and him all day until daddy came home at 4 to take us to his familys house for dinner. I tried to entertain Jakob, but he was so incredibly whiney. We did turkey hand art and made some cards for our dinner mates. They were pretty simple, but I think they turned out cute. Dinner was nice, but the best part was the company. Jakob didn't wan to smile for this picture, so I tickled him into submission.

11.24.10 Mr. Photogenic

For all the days Jakob won't let me get any good pictures of him, there are days like today where I get several. First thing in the morning, he insisted on wearing his hat. He has never even let me put it on him before, much less put it on himself...and to my delight, he put it on backwards....so cute. He even let me snap this picture! After daycare, I took him for a much needed haircut, and he looks so handsome now. When we got home we went outside and he played in the leaves and in his car, and even swung on the hammock for a while. These were some of my favorite pictures.

11.23.10 Jakob Takes a Picture

Tonight I deep cleaned the living room and made room for the Christmas tree. While I worked, Jakob took about 100 pictures of his thumb and the ceiling, and amazingly enough, one of me. I am so glad his Nana is getting him his own camera for Christmas!

11.22.10 Peanut and Riley

I suppose they were both waiting for the local squirrel to make an appearance, but I thought it was so cute the way they were sitting identically, I had to snap this shot.

11.21.10 Art Wall #2

We finally finished our second unit at school, so it was time to change out the art gallery wall. I have not had time during the work week, and I promised the kids it would get done over Thanksgiving break. Since I have no business standing on chairs and reaching up high, I forced Jeff to help me this time around. I told him it would take us about 3 hours, but he didn't believe me. It took four. =) I am so glad its done and he didn't even complain too much, except to say, "After Ashlyn is born you will be able to do this on your own right?" While we worked, we let Jakob play with markers on a poster board and my dry erase board. That is probably what the picture should have been because the kid must have had 25 markers open and in his lap, and was COVERED in ink by the time we left. He managed to entertain himself the whole time though, impressive for a two year old.

11.20.10 Finally Finished!

I started on her room technically in June, but really started working on it anytime I had free time in September. Two exhausting months later, I am finally done and very much relieved. I think it turned out ok, or pretty cute. What do you think?

11.19.10 Change of Plans

The last two nights I have barely been able to sleep because of the pain in my lungs/chest area. I thought it was just the baby cramping things up, but at 4 am last ngiht, I was nearly

ready to go to the emergency room. Every time I breathed in I got an intense stabbing pain, and it did not feel right. I couldn't lay down because it made it much worse, so sat in the living room watching TV until I finally got exhausted enough to pass out. At school, the pain continued, added with my sleep deprivation, and I knew I had to go in to the doctor. I left work at noon, making Charles promise to take my hard worked eggs to the dinner that I would now miss. Boo. Of course I couldn't see my doctor on such short notice, so I saw a nurse. She did all kinds of tests on me to see what was wrong but came up with squat. She said the next step was to do an x-ray, but she really wanted to avoid that since it is very bad for the baby. Seh gave me antibiotics hoping it was remnants of my cold froma c ouple weeks ago, muscle fatigue and such, but warned me if it did not get better or if I started struggling to breath to go to the ER immeadiately. Luckily for me within 2 hrs of taking the first pill, I felt like the pain was lessening. Within 24 hrs, my congestion magically cleared and I felt better than I have in weeks. Yeah drugs!

I stopped by Hobby Lobby to get letters to make Ashlyns name for her room, one of the last projects to complete her nursery, on my way home. That night I started on the project and got so excited working on it, I ended up finishing it in one night. It is pretty cute and definately diffferent than how I did Jakob's name in his room, which is good.

11.18.10 Deviled Eggs...yum.

Tommorrow is our company Thanksgiving dinner, and for my part I signed up to make deviled eggs. It took me quite a bit longer than expected, but the taste test I had proved they were delcious (and oh so pretty)! I just wish I had something cute and harvesty to sit in the center of the serving plate. Oh well.

11.17.10 Visit from Meaghan and Finn

The second cutest little boy I know, came by with his mom today at school, and we were lucky enough to have a few minutes to sit and chat before my jobly duties called. Finn was not feeling well, but still managed some pretty adorable squels and bashful giggles. I see so much of Meaghan in him, and that makes me happy because she is definately one of my favorite people!

11.16.10 32 weeks done, 6 to go!

Though I feel pretty maxed out, I still have a ways to go, but I can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. I feel enormous, but I have finally tipped the scales from my pregnancy with Jakob...for a long time I have been larger than I was with him, but finally when I compare pics, my belly this time is slightly more petite. Here's to not giving birth to an amazon!

11.15.10 Pretty in Pink

Jakob loves to pretend to go night night in Ashlyn's crib. He demands I take the stuffed pig out first, than a pillow has to be brought in, and this certain pink blanket. He turns on the music box in her crib, makes me turn on the mobile, and then fakes like he's going to sleep. It cracks me up to see him laying there in all that pink. If you try and play along though and turn out the lights or rub his back, you are greeted with a round of "NO NO NO's". Tonight while we were playing I reminded him this was his sister's bed and told him he should give her a big kiss for letting him play in her bed before she arrives. It took about a hundred kisses for me to get the timing of my camera where he was actually kissing my belly, and by the end he was saying, "no mas." At least I got one, even though it is not the best.