Imogen turned one a few days ago...she took a few steps on her birthday, but nothing since...If we try to get her to walk on her own, she lets go of our hands, gets the the ground and lays her head down...kind of funny. However, if we give her our hands, she will "drag" us the full length of the yard...and it's a long yard...hehe
I'm trying to work on her 1st installment of 3 for her 1 year old photo books. I did 3 for Emmaus and I WILL do 3 for her too!! Just might take awhile to get the photos uploaded....hehe
We have a huge swing set in our backyard now THANKS to my mom and dad. It was a birthday present...for Imogen's 1 and Emmaus' 3...it's quite the gift. I can even climb up the ladder and rock wall, stand up completely in the playhouse without hitting my head and slide down the slide....and both jake and I can swing on the swings...quite heavy duty..again, loving it!
Umm....what else...Emmaus wants to watch movies and shows 24/7.
When he wakes up in the morning, he comes up stairs and says....do you remember when....and he gives us some story from the day before...I love it...or when he says..."Ezra's not coming over today..." haha, this kid cracks me up.
Imogen is starting to babble a lot more...she is putting things in her mouth all the time...I have to gather up all the small bouncy balls again so we don't have ourselves an accident.
The other day I heard some noises in the bathroom, and everyone was accounted for except Imogen...I walked over to find her not only alone in the bathroom, but up on the sink...rather in the sink....she had crawled up the toilet...used the toilet paper roll as a foot hold and got all the way up into the sink....she wanted to turn it on to wash her hands...one of her favorite pass times....we have to keep the bathroom door closed from now on!...
She loves talking to the phone, whether it's my phone, Jake's phone, or the soft squishy play phone, she looks at it and starts blah blah blah...waiting for someone to talk back...super cute.
She's a big eater....when she wants something she extends her arm and speaks...not sure what...but we know that's when she's commanding us to either give her something, or walk her over to something...she's very much Girl!
She climbed up the ladder to the playground on her own, and crawled to the slide and proceeded to slide down...just needed a tad bit of help getting the shoes out of her way so she could sit down...she's getting so big...and we're loving it.
She's incredibly persistent, much like her brother, much like their mother!!! haha..
Emmaus is such a wiz with his puzzles....he loves the new kitchenette we got from Ikea for Imogen's birthday...he was making me a salad earlier with some salt...and when I thought he was done, he said...wait, a little more...and we play nibbled on the food...at first Imogen was actually putting her mouth on the stuff, then she watched what we were doing, and started just putting her mouth towards the food instead of eating it...so cute...
Anyhoo..for now these are my joys...figured this would be a better thing to blog about!
Cheers.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Some days...
Some days are worst than others.
Emotions are running high in this petite body of mine. After having 2 children semi-back-to-back, my body, after 3 years is finally "back to normal..." and oh how I didn't miss this. Hormones suck!
It's not just that aspect of biology, I'm insanely busy this LAST semester as a student to get my BA! I'm working way more than I will admit, and taking 2 classes and driving back and forth and back and forth from work to work to home to work...missing my kids, forgetting what it's like to spend quality time with Jake....in it's place we have misunderstanding and miscommunications left and right...tonight...(I laugh just thinking about this...) Emmaus is getting ready to go downstairs for bed, and he looks at me and says, Mommy's mad...I couldn't keep a straight face when he said it.....it's funny how perspective changes things.
I roll my eyes thinking about how things happen....it's petty, and silly and just stupid...
Breathe....
2 more months eh....that's not too bad....8 weeks give or take...that's less than 1 trimester of pregnancy....If I can do that...I can do this!!! Right?...haha...
If it weren't for this "Womanhood," I think I'd be fine....I hate "letting" that take over though, I've always thought it was a really bad excuse....I just need to remember my breathing....and prayer...and give extra long hugs to those amazingly cute babies of mine...only they aren't babies anymore....She's ONE....and so funny and cute and loving...Lord thank you for all my blessings, friends, family, opportunities, and silly blogs where I can vent....and feel normal for doing so!..
as always...thanks for reading peeps.
mmmm...peeps sound good (wink*)
Emotions are running high in this petite body of mine. After having 2 children semi-back-to-back, my body, after 3 years is finally "back to normal..." and oh how I didn't miss this. Hormones suck!
It's not just that aspect of biology, I'm insanely busy this LAST semester as a student to get my BA! I'm working way more than I will admit, and taking 2 classes and driving back and forth and back and forth from work to work to home to work...missing my kids, forgetting what it's like to spend quality time with Jake....in it's place we have misunderstanding and miscommunications left and right...tonight...(I laugh just thinking about this...) Emmaus is getting ready to go downstairs for bed, and he looks at me and says, Mommy's mad...I couldn't keep a straight face when he said it.....it's funny how perspective changes things.
I roll my eyes thinking about how things happen....it's petty, and silly and just stupid...
Breathe....
2 more months eh....that's not too bad....8 weeks give or take...that's less than 1 trimester of pregnancy....If I can do that...I can do this!!! Right?...haha...
If it weren't for this "Womanhood," I think I'd be fine....I hate "letting" that take over though, I've always thought it was a really bad excuse....I just need to remember my breathing....and prayer...and give extra long hugs to those amazingly cute babies of mine...only they aren't babies anymore....She's ONE....and so funny and cute and loving...Lord thank you for all my blessings, friends, family, opportunities, and silly blogs where I can vent....and feel normal for doing so!..
as always...thanks for reading peeps.
mmmm...peeps sound good (wink*)
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
What does One do at 1 am?
My brain won't let me read anymore, so homework is out of the question. I don't even feel up to writing an email, cause I'm not sure any of it would make sense. So, then why am I trying to blog?...eh, why not. I think my SLR camera is broken. I'm afraid to put the battery back in for fear it is dead. I do have the prospect of getting a new one upon graduation from the U...so that's only 6 months away...assuming I pass all my classes from now until then. My keyboard on my laptop was replaced, but is still having problems, and my hard-drive is full of pictues to the point that it might stop running...
WAIT...I'm not here to complain or have a *&^%$ session....I just wanted to update this thing, yet again...and the first thinng out of my mouth (hands) shouldn't be griping. My family is doing great. Imogen is going up and down stairs, Emmaus has been hanging out with his 5 and 7 year old cousin for the past week, and I think he thinks he's at least 5. He repeats everything that we say, I gave him a new drink tonight, and he was like...What's this?...and I told him it was like a yogurt/milk drink (Thanks again Jeannine) and I asked if he like it, he said "Yes." I wish I could type his voice...he's so freaking CUTE!!!
He's been doing better at listening, and doing really great with his potty training...He doesn't want our help anymore with going to the bathroom, although (just between us, he does still need help, says his pants that I had to change today...)-But I couldn't be more prouder of both of them.
I love how Imogen wants me to hold her above anyone else once she catches my eye gaze, or hears my voice. It comforts me grately that she seeks me to comfort her. Warms me to the core.
Good night Never Land!
WAIT...I'm not here to complain or have a *&^%$ session....I just wanted to update this thing, yet again...and the first thinng out of my mouth (hands) shouldn't be griping. My family is doing great. Imogen is going up and down stairs, Emmaus has been hanging out with his 5 and 7 year old cousin for the past week, and I think he thinks he's at least 5. He repeats everything that we say, I gave him a new drink tonight, and he was like...What's this?...and I told him it was like a yogurt/milk drink (Thanks again Jeannine) and I asked if he like it, he said "Yes." I wish I could type his voice...he's so freaking CUTE!!!
He's been doing better at listening, and doing really great with his potty training...He doesn't want our help anymore with going to the bathroom, although (just between us, he does still need help, says his pants that I had to change today...)-But I couldn't be more prouder of both of them.
I love how Imogen wants me to hold her above anyone else once she catches my eye gaze, or hears my voice. It comforts me grately that she seeks me to comfort her. Warms me to the core.
Good night Never Land!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Slacker
Wow, really, I haven't blogged since January. I guess that's when school started probably...haha.
I'd love to pull up some photos, or say something awesome...but I need to finish my final paper for my Attachment Theory class, get my scheudule up for work while we are in Minnesota for 6 weeks, Run home to get things ready for the potluck at work tomorrow,
Oh yea and kiss my beautiful almost 7 month old girl who wants to stand and walk already, and Emmaus who wakes up wanting to watch Incredibles, or Tangled, or his Favorite NEMO. But only after he has 5 smiley faces for going to the potty.
Until later...IF you are still checking this, thanks peeps!
I'd love to pull up some photos, or say something awesome...but I need to finish my final paper for my Attachment Theory class, get my scheudule up for work while we are in Minnesota for 6 weeks, Run home to get things ready for the potluck at work tomorrow,
Oh yea and kiss my beautiful almost 7 month old girl who wants to stand and walk already, and Emmaus who wakes up wanting to watch Incredibles, or Tangled, or his Favorite NEMO. But only after he has 5 smiley faces for going to the potty.
Until later...IF you are still checking this, thanks peeps!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Time Flies...
Be prepared for another novella: (Part of this is just for me to evaluate what is going on with everyone...sorry if it's TMI, or just too long and boring...if you don't get to be around us all that much, I hope you enjoy it.)
I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post. I'm not sure if I've explained this or not, but anytime Emmaus sees the computer out, he wants to look at pictues, watch Leap Frog, or do anything other than let me try to post pictures on my blog. This is one reason I will "blame" for not updating this on a more regular basis. Fortunately I still have enought pictures to do a blog, just not the time or privacy to put them on here.
Imogen is almost 4 months old ..(in one week) and Emmaus is almost 2 years old...(in 17 days)...for that matter, I'll be 31 years old in 3 days!!! I do love birthdays and marking time
Jake's parents are in town...This is the first time they've been able to see the baby. (They were here for the birth, but she was later than we had anticipated.) So we decided to have her dedication while they were here. That was nice. Imogen and Emmaus were very patient while Bob did his thing. It was super cute when Emmaus interupted and said, "Let's Pray..." My terri mom and gma Sandy came too. Then we all went to In and Out Burger aftewards. (Mike and Mary and Sandy had never been before, so we thought why not. Emmaus loves any place with french fries.)
I started school up at the U last week. I'm looking forward to being graduated. I have 9 credit hours this semester, summer I plan on taking another 9, which leaves 7 remaining for the Fall, followed by NO MORE SCHOOL! I like the things I'm learning, but it takes away from my time with the kids and jake and my sleep..haha. I'm taking a Family Violence class, and Attachment Theory..and I'm TAing for a former professuer, just grading some papers...I'm hoping that one won't take up too much time...(fingers crossed.)
Emmaus is AMAZING...as always. He's so tall, and sooo strong. He will lift himself onto our coffee table with just his ams. (Like in a pike position...it's hard to explain....) I might have already said this, but this is waht comes to mind when I talk about Emmaus. He knows his alphabet sooo well. We have a Spiderman activity book that has a word snake type game. He will say the letters in the square so fast, W, S, B, R, Q, E....It's neat that he can identify the letters, not just repeat what he has heard in the song. It's really cute because we'll be doing something and he will just stop, and either point out letters on my shirt, or run to the recycling bin and point out letters and numbers that are on a box in there. He's counting too...He can go from 1-10 and back to 1. He can get to 12, then 14, 18, 19, 20. We're still working on the thirteen...
He loves his books, but even more loves his shows and movies and our smart phones. Mr. Technology. When I say I can't pull out my laptop to do anything, I really can't pull out my phone to do anything. I shouldn't say anything, but for example, he was walking from our garage door towards his room...he's walking at a steady pace, glances over towards the counter, see's jake's laptop open on the counter, and he paused, and actually took steps backward and rerouted himself towards the counter. It was funny. He's doing okay when we tell him no, bt sometimes he throws such a fit...I feel bad for him sometimes, but wow...he gets so passionate about things...
He's doing better with his coloring too, more centralized and he likes coloring in the eyes right now. We found an app on gmas smart phone where he can drag puzzle pieces together to make a picture. Mary wasn't sure if Emmaus would be able to figure it out, other than not liking the touch/vibrate feeling, he was a pro. To avoid the vibration (can't remember what that is called.) He grabbed Gma Mary's finger and was using it like a stylus to move the pieces around. Such a problem solver.
He's also doing really good with his potty training...It's been about 5 months I think since we introduced the idea to him. Now he'll run to the potty sometimes on his own, pull down his pants/underwear, stand up on the stool, and sit down...Jake told me a story that Emmaus went poop in our portable potty, picked it up, tried to dump it into the big potty, some spilled, and he tried to clean it up with the cloth wipes we had. Jake found him scrubbing the floor and about 3 wipes in the toilet...he's such a sweetie.
Imogen has rolled over a few times from her tummy to her back. She slept 9 hours the other night (in a row...) that was a bit of a shock...She smiles non stop...well that's an exaggeration, but you get the picture. She is such a happy baby. We are super uber blessed. (that was for you jeannine.) She's started laughing too sometimes. That is the most precious noise ever. She seems to be teething too. I don't see any white spots under her gums yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if hers surfaced soon. Emmaus was around 7 months when his first came through. we'll see what happens.
She's also showing some impressive signs of strength. When on her belly she can straighten her arms underneath her...and she's been spending a lot of time in her exersaucer too..she likes the mirror rhino on there...and sucking on the elephant ears.
Jake has a gig next week . It's a company that used him before, and specifically asked for him again by name, that was awesome. It's during Sundance too, so this could be extra cool...or just normal...either way it's a good experience for him. He bought me/us a steam vac for my birthday...and he's cleaned almost the whole house with it including part of the kitchen. (It does tile too.) He's been submitting some of his short stories online...hoping someone publishes one of them...and I'm hoping he works on getting his murder mysteries revamped so he can set up a website with them.
We are all happy, healthy (thank God) and thriving. Looking forward to going to Minnesota in June for Andrew and Becca's wedding. Susanna's getting married in April, Shalom and Jake in May...Lots of fun things coming up...Hopefully I'll be able to post a few pics about it...we'll see.
as always...
I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post. I'm not sure if I've explained this or not, but anytime Emmaus sees the computer out, he wants to look at pictues, watch Leap Frog, or do anything other than let me try to post pictures on my blog. This is one reason I will "blame" for not updating this on a more regular basis. Fortunately I still have enought pictures to do a blog, just not the time or privacy to put them on here.
Imogen is almost 4 months old ..(in one week) and Emmaus is almost 2 years old...(in 17 days)...for that matter, I'll be 31 years old in 3 days!!! I do love birthdays and marking time
Jake's parents are in town...This is the first time they've been able to see the baby. (They were here for the birth, but she was later than we had anticipated.) So we decided to have her dedication while they were here. That was nice. Imogen and Emmaus were very patient while Bob did his thing. It was super cute when Emmaus interupted and said, "Let's Pray..." My terri mom and gma Sandy came too. Then we all went to In and Out Burger aftewards. (Mike and Mary and Sandy had never been before, so we thought why not. Emmaus loves any place with french fries.)
I started school up at the U last week. I'm looking forward to being graduated. I have 9 credit hours this semester, summer I plan on taking another 9, which leaves 7 remaining for the Fall, followed by NO MORE SCHOOL! I like the things I'm learning, but it takes away from my time with the kids and jake and my sleep..haha. I'm taking a Family Violence class, and Attachment Theory..and I'm TAing for a former professuer, just grading some papers...I'm hoping that one won't take up too much time...(fingers crossed.)
Emmaus is AMAZING...as always. He's so tall, and sooo strong. He will lift himself onto our coffee table with just his ams. (Like in a pike position...it's hard to explain....) I might have already said this, but this is waht comes to mind when I talk about Emmaus. He knows his alphabet sooo well. We have a Spiderman activity book that has a word snake type game. He will say the letters in the square so fast, W, S, B, R, Q, E....It's neat that he can identify the letters, not just repeat what he has heard in the song. It's really cute because we'll be doing something and he will just stop, and either point out letters on my shirt, or run to the recycling bin and point out letters and numbers that are on a box in there. He's counting too...He can go from 1-10 and back to 1. He can get to 12, then 14, 18, 19, 20. We're still working on the thirteen...
He loves his books, but even more loves his shows and movies and our smart phones. Mr. Technology. When I say I can't pull out my laptop to do anything, I really can't pull out my phone to do anything. I shouldn't say anything, but for example, he was walking from our garage door towards his room...he's walking at a steady pace, glances over towards the counter, see's jake's laptop open on the counter, and he paused, and actually took steps backward and rerouted himself towards the counter. It was funny. He's doing okay when we tell him no, bt sometimes he throws such a fit...I feel bad for him sometimes, but wow...he gets so passionate about things...
He's doing better with his coloring too, more centralized and he likes coloring in the eyes right now. We found an app on gmas smart phone where he can drag puzzle pieces together to make a picture. Mary wasn't sure if Emmaus would be able to figure it out, other than not liking the touch/vibrate feeling, he was a pro. To avoid the vibration (can't remember what that is called.) He grabbed Gma Mary's finger and was using it like a stylus to move the pieces around. Such a problem solver.
He's also doing really good with his potty training...It's been about 5 months I think since we introduced the idea to him. Now he'll run to the potty sometimes on his own, pull down his pants/underwear, stand up on the stool, and sit down...Jake told me a story that Emmaus went poop in our portable potty, picked it up, tried to dump it into the big potty, some spilled, and he tried to clean it up with the cloth wipes we had. Jake found him scrubbing the floor and about 3 wipes in the toilet...he's such a sweetie.
Imogen has rolled over a few times from her tummy to her back. She slept 9 hours the other night (in a row...) that was a bit of a shock...She smiles non stop...well that's an exaggeration, but you get the picture. She is such a happy baby. We are super uber blessed. (that was for you jeannine.) She's started laughing too sometimes. That is the most precious noise ever. She seems to be teething too. I don't see any white spots under her gums yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if hers surfaced soon. Emmaus was around 7 months when his first came through. we'll see what happens.
She's also showing some impressive signs of strength. When on her belly she can straighten her arms underneath her...and she's been spending a lot of time in her exersaucer too..she likes the mirror rhino on there...and sucking on the elephant ears.
Jake has a gig next week . It's a company that used him before, and specifically asked for him again by name, that was awesome. It's during Sundance too, so this could be extra cool...or just normal...either way it's a good experience for him. He bought me/us a steam vac for my birthday...and he's cleaned almost the whole house with it including part of the kitchen. (It does tile too.) He's been submitting some of his short stories online...hoping someone publishes one of them...and I'm hoping he works on getting his murder mysteries revamped so he can set up a website with them.
We are all happy, healthy (thank God) and thriving. Looking forward to going to Minnesota in June for Andrew and Becca's wedding. Susanna's getting married in April, Shalom and Jake in May...Lots of fun things coming up...Hopefully I'll be able to post a few pics about it...we'll see.
as always...
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Update time..I guess
It's been 3 weeks since I last posted...so I guess I should write something about what is going on in my life.
(I didn't expect this to get as long as it did..if you make it to the end...congratulations.)
Emmaus is freaking amazing. Still working on potty training...he has his good days and his accident days...Jake was so happy yesterday...in his words "Emmaus had a BIG poop in the potty...-we have resorted to rewarding him with watching Leap Frog, or a video of his choice...if it gets him motivated, so be it..shrug. (I dislike him running around with nothing on the bottom part of his bottom. He's started touching his peepee a little too much for my liking...I know it's natural...but really does he have to go through this phase. Fortunately when his pants are on he hasn't tried to put his hand down his pants yet..at least I haven't seen it..I hope this passes soon.)
He talks sooo much and has started using prepositions too. He said Minnesota today...I could post a list of all of his words...but that would take a long time...and I can't think of all of them right now..I love it when he strings 3 or 4 or more words together in his sentences.
He loves his numbers and letters right now..Thanks to Leap Frog.(yea Netflix.) When we open the fridge he is right there cause he "needs" something out of there just like we do. He's a bit obsessed with our phones. He finds games, videos, pictures...changes settings, calls grandma occassionally. He's quite tech savvy actually. We might need to get him a kid laptop sooner than later, that is if that would be good enough for him...I'm not convinced..hehe
Jake was telling me today that they were playing hide and seek. Jake got him to close his eyes and count and come find him...he got distracted in route and started playing with a toy somewhere. Jake started making some noises and Emmaus finally came to find him. When it was daddy's turn to find Emmaus, Emm took off and was giggling the whole time while he was waiting to be found. I am sad I missed that special moment, but loved the replay I got...those two have such a special relationship. Love it.
Imogen is already 2 months old. She is SO big. I need to post a newborn pic and a 2 month pic next to each other. It's amazing what berast milk can do to a kid. (I'm sure formula does the same thing.)
She's cooing...currently her favorite word to say is "Hi"..seriously..that's what it sounds like. She follows us around the room with her eyes...and she smiles sooo much. She's a great eater and great sleeper. (She still only sleeps about 3.5-5 hours at night...but eats and goes right back to sleep. Last night I was only awake for about 20 minutes in between. She's great. She's wearing 3-6 month clothes already. She has a little bald spot on the back of head from laying on her back...which is to be expected...but otherwise I love her dark hair...I wanted a little girl with dark hair...that makes me smile.
I have been looking around for various bows and head bands to put in her hair. I have a friend who made a neat flower out of satin..I'm going to crochet a couple, and hopefully that will satisfy me. We'll see..and I'll post pics. I haven't been a slacker taking pictures or anything...there are two factors playing into it. 1st, I'm back to work so that limits when I can snap some flashes. 2nd of all, Emmaus is a photo fiend. He goes berzerk when I pull the camera out..."See PICTURES!!" He has been getting better, but sometimes I just think it's better to not elicit the response....POINT BEING...I'll get some more pics up soon.
Speaking of pictues. Jake's brother Andrew came out for Thanksgiving with his awesomely beautiful and talented girlfriend Becca Oehrig. She's a professional photographer and all around amazing woman..(if you are reading this please don't be embarrassed, I just think you rock.) So brought out her gear to shoot a few pics of the family. It was so sweet of her to even offer. I have the worst ages to try to take pics of kids....not only individually but thinking of trying to get something together is just silly...but we attempted, and I think we got some sweet pics. I haven't seen them yet, but I was pleased with our experience. You should have seen her running after Emmaus while we were in the back yard...she was awesome. Have I said that enough yet?..hehe. (I'll post those pics when I get them from her...she's a busy lady.)
Speaking of Thanksgiving...we had a really wonderful time. Not only was Andrew and Becca in town, but Jojo and Sarah drove out from San Diego, Bill drove up from Texas and we hosted the lot of them at our humble home. Dad cooked the turkey and gravy, we (Jake, Becca and Andrew) prepared the mashed potatoes, green beans and salad. I made the pumpkin pie (from scratch I might add) and mom made a special fruit torte for Jojo's birthday (which happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year.)
I worked a few hours that morning (by choice, it's time and a half...I can never turn that down....next year I'll remember to work later in the evening because I want to do the 5k turkey run. Jake did it last year with Emmaus, but it wound up being really cold, and he didn't want to attempt it again this year...with 2 kids. Funny thing though, it was really warm Thanksgiving morning this year...oh well, we'll see how it turns out next year.) When I got home Andrew and Becca and Jake were playing Puerto Rico (fun game.) Can't remember exactly what we did from then till we started cooking, but I'm sure it was fun. Started cooking, people starting showing up...we hung out...ate...drank...we had a total of 13 people eating dinner in our kitchen...that was sort of comical...I should have gotten a picture of it...grrr (regret.) then a few more people came over to play games to celebrate Jojo's bday. We played Three Round Noun...and Telephone Pictionary...ask me if you want to know how to play..they are way fun group games.
It's tradition with my Hahn family that the Saturday after Thanksgiving we have a huge Fundraiser Party for Kedesh. That is the orphanage where Jake and I met in Mozambique. It was really neat this year because not only was Andrew also in Beira with us, but Becca had also spent some time at Kedesh with John Wickes the year before we had all been there. So we had 8 people who had been to see the orphanage at the party. One other person was supposed to come, but got tied up with other family plans and was unable to join us. That was pretty cool. On top of that, we got to Skype John and the boys this year. That was a super cool experience. Emmaus had already gone to sleep by the time we called...(it was like 5am or something their time..they woke up early just to see us.) ...so he didnt' get to see them, but I showed John Imogen...if it wasn't for Kedesh and John, our kids wouldn't even exist. Love that man. The party was again another success. They raised $1228 for the boys....it's a great cause, I love being apart of it.
It was a crazy weekend, very busy, but well worth it. We also were able to take Andrew and Becca down to Greek Souvlaki downtown. Afterall, no one can come visit us without stopping there, I won't have it!...I drove Becca around a little to show her Salt Lake...it was night time...and with the Christmas lights up at Temple Square I figured I'd drive her past it...just to have the experience. We had hoped to go hiking, but with me working and everything else going on..it didn't work out...the one day we were planning on...it was snowing in the mountains...there's always next year...or the year after and soo on...hopefully they'll be able to come back out when the weather is nicer.
Now It's almost December. We've bought most of the Christmas gifts that we will be getting...and opened over half of them too...we don't really stand on occassion at our house...I have a couple of things for him to open up on Christmas...and maybe I'll get a few more things...but...we'll see. I don't see any reason to really get her anything...wait..I did buy her an outfit that I could wrap for sake of a photo..but really she has everything she needs...we'll see.. it seems to be more about the photos than anything.
We don't do a tree at our house. Jake doesn't want to deal with all the hassle of putting it up and buying stuff and tearing it down..I agree to some extent...but I still wish we had some holiday cheeriness in the form of something visual. I'm pushing to at least get some cute stockings this year for the 4 of us...we do have a chimney..and I think that would make me happy enough...I realize with Emmaus the tree would probably wind up on its side a few times too, so maybe sometime in the future we can get the tree....if we decide to. I'm not a huge fan either, but ya know, it's Christmas....
We did decide to do an advent calender this year..probably just do a store bought one this time, maybe I'll get more creative for next year when I can put more thought into it...
It's about 4 weeks till Christmas, 6 weeks till Mike and Mary come out to meet imogen, 7 weeks till my birthday, 9 weeks till Emmaus' birthday...I'll be starting school at the U again in January with a graduation date tentatively of December 2012, we have 2 possibly 3 weddings for May...We'll see what else comes our way.
as always, thanks for reading...
(oh yea, I'm also on a crochet kick..hats and scarves...love the hats i'm doing...I'll have to take a pic of that too...okay, I'm really done this time....)
(I didn't expect this to get as long as it did..if you make it to the end...congratulations.)
Emmaus is freaking amazing. Still working on potty training...he has his good days and his accident days...Jake was so happy yesterday...in his words "Emmaus had a BIG poop in the potty...-we have resorted to rewarding him with watching Leap Frog, or a video of his choice...if it gets him motivated, so be it..shrug. (I dislike him running around with nothing on the bottom part of his bottom. He's started touching his peepee a little too much for my liking...I know it's natural...but really does he have to go through this phase. Fortunately when his pants are on he hasn't tried to put his hand down his pants yet..at least I haven't seen it..I hope this passes soon.)
He talks sooo much and has started using prepositions too. He said Minnesota today...I could post a list of all of his words...but that would take a long time...and I can't think of all of them right now..I love it when he strings 3 or 4 or more words together in his sentences.
He loves his numbers and letters right now..Thanks to Leap Frog.(yea Netflix.) When we open the fridge he is right there cause he "needs" something out of there just like we do. He's a bit obsessed with our phones. He finds games, videos, pictures...changes settings, calls grandma occassionally. He's quite tech savvy actually. We might need to get him a kid laptop sooner than later, that is if that would be good enough for him...I'm not convinced..hehe
Jake was telling me today that they were playing hide and seek. Jake got him to close his eyes and count and come find him...he got distracted in route and started playing with a toy somewhere. Jake started making some noises and Emmaus finally came to find him. When it was daddy's turn to find Emmaus, Emm took off and was giggling the whole time while he was waiting to be found. I am sad I missed that special moment, but loved the replay I got...those two have such a special relationship. Love it.
Imogen is already 2 months old. She is SO big. I need to post a newborn pic and a 2 month pic next to each other. It's amazing what berast milk can do to a kid. (I'm sure formula does the same thing.)
She's cooing...currently her favorite word to say is "Hi"..seriously..that's what it sounds like. She follows us around the room with her eyes...and she smiles sooo much. She's a great eater and great sleeper. (She still only sleeps about 3.5-5 hours at night...but eats and goes right back to sleep. Last night I was only awake for about 20 minutes in between. She's great. She's wearing 3-6 month clothes already. She has a little bald spot on the back of head from laying on her back...which is to be expected...but otherwise I love her dark hair...I wanted a little girl with dark hair...that makes me smile.
I have been looking around for various bows and head bands to put in her hair. I have a friend who made a neat flower out of satin..I'm going to crochet a couple, and hopefully that will satisfy me. We'll see..and I'll post pics. I haven't been a slacker taking pictures or anything...there are two factors playing into it. 1st, I'm back to work so that limits when I can snap some flashes. 2nd of all, Emmaus is a photo fiend. He goes berzerk when I pull the camera out..."See PICTURES!!" He has been getting better, but sometimes I just think it's better to not elicit the response....POINT BEING...I'll get some more pics up soon.
Speaking of pictues. Jake's brother Andrew came out for Thanksgiving with his awesomely beautiful and talented girlfriend Becca Oehrig. She's a professional photographer and all around amazing woman..(if you are reading this please don't be embarrassed, I just think you rock.) So brought out her gear to shoot a few pics of the family. It was so sweet of her to even offer. I have the worst ages to try to take pics of kids....not only individually but thinking of trying to get something together is just silly...but we attempted, and I think we got some sweet pics. I haven't seen them yet, but I was pleased with our experience. You should have seen her running after Emmaus while we were in the back yard...she was awesome. Have I said that enough yet?..hehe. (I'll post those pics when I get them from her...she's a busy lady.)
Speaking of Thanksgiving...we had a really wonderful time. Not only was Andrew and Becca in town, but Jojo and Sarah drove out from San Diego, Bill drove up from Texas and we hosted the lot of them at our humble home. Dad cooked the turkey and gravy, we (Jake, Becca and Andrew) prepared the mashed potatoes, green beans and salad. I made the pumpkin pie (from scratch I might add) and mom made a special fruit torte for Jojo's birthday (which happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year.)
I worked a few hours that morning (by choice, it's time and a half...I can never turn that down....next year I'll remember to work later in the evening because I want to do the 5k turkey run. Jake did it last year with Emmaus, but it wound up being really cold, and he didn't want to attempt it again this year...with 2 kids. Funny thing though, it was really warm Thanksgiving morning this year...oh well, we'll see how it turns out next year.) When I got home Andrew and Becca and Jake were playing Puerto Rico (fun game.) Can't remember exactly what we did from then till we started cooking, but I'm sure it was fun. Started cooking, people starting showing up...we hung out...ate...drank...we had a total of 13 people eating dinner in our kitchen...that was sort of comical...I should have gotten a picture of it...grrr (regret.) then a few more people came over to play games to celebrate Jojo's bday. We played Three Round Noun...and Telephone Pictionary...ask me if you want to know how to play..they are way fun group games.
It's tradition with my Hahn family that the Saturday after Thanksgiving we have a huge Fundraiser Party for Kedesh. That is the orphanage where Jake and I met in Mozambique. It was really neat this year because not only was Andrew also in Beira with us, but Becca had also spent some time at Kedesh with John Wickes the year before we had all been there. So we had 8 people who had been to see the orphanage at the party. One other person was supposed to come, but got tied up with other family plans and was unable to join us. That was pretty cool. On top of that, we got to Skype John and the boys this year. That was a super cool experience. Emmaus had already gone to sleep by the time we called...(it was like 5am or something their time..they woke up early just to see us.) ...so he didnt' get to see them, but I showed John Imogen...if it wasn't for Kedesh and John, our kids wouldn't even exist. Love that man. The party was again another success. They raised $1228 for the boys....it's a great cause, I love being apart of it.
It was a crazy weekend, very busy, but well worth it. We also were able to take Andrew and Becca down to Greek Souvlaki downtown. Afterall, no one can come visit us without stopping there, I won't have it!...I drove Becca around a little to show her Salt Lake...it was night time...and with the Christmas lights up at Temple Square I figured I'd drive her past it...just to have the experience. We had hoped to go hiking, but with me working and everything else going on..it didn't work out...the one day we were planning on...it was snowing in the mountains...there's always next year...or the year after and soo on...hopefully they'll be able to come back out when the weather is nicer.
Now It's almost December. We've bought most of the Christmas gifts that we will be getting...and opened over half of them too...we don't really stand on occassion at our house...I have a couple of things for him to open up on Christmas...and maybe I'll get a few more things...but...we'll see. I don't see any reason to really get her anything...wait..I did buy her an outfit that I could wrap for sake of a photo..but really she has everything she needs...we'll see.. it seems to be more about the photos than anything.
We don't do a tree at our house. Jake doesn't want to deal with all the hassle of putting it up and buying stuff and tearing it down..I agree to some extent...but I still wish we had some holiday cheeriness in the form of something visual. I'm pushing to at least get some cute stockings this year for the 4 of us...we do have a chimney..and I think that would make me happy enough...I realize with Emmaus the tree would probably wind up on its side a few times too, so maybe sometime in the future we can get the tree....if we decide to. I'm not a huge fan either, but ya know, it's Christmas....
We did decide to do an advent calender this year..probably just do a store bought one this time, maybe I'll get more creative for next year when I can put more thought into it...
It's about 4 weeks till Christmas, 6 weeks till Mike and Mary come out to meet imogen, 7 weeks till my birthday, 9 weeks till Emmaus' birthday...I'll be starting school at the U again in January with a graduation date tentatively of December 2012, we have 2 possibly 3 weddings for May...We'll see what else comes our way.
as always, thanks for reading...
(oh yea, I'm also on a crochet kick..hats and scarves...love the hats i'm doing...I'll have to take a pic of that too...okay, I'm really done this time....)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sigh...
So as you all know Jake and I had great success with our pregnancies. Not only did we get pregnant on our first try with both kids, but I carried them with relative ease and even though my deliveries were a bit long there wasn't a lot of complications...(yes, emmaus was in the NICU for 10 days, but it was mostly that he had swallowed the maconium...so it was just that they needed to clean out his system...no real scare of underdevloped parts or anything.)
I'm writing this because I have a lot of friends who are pregant right now, or trying to get pregnant. One friend in particular just found out that the 20 week baby she is carrying is missing some vital organs and has been told that it probably won't beable to survive outside of the womb. Heart Breaking. Speechless.
We never did any genetic testing with our pregnancies because my thought had always been if something were to come up, how would that change anything. I would still have the baby, so why not just have the baby and figure things out after the fact....my friends situation isn't genetically relevant, but I've been thinking about the convo I had with her about her situation....and am trying to relate anything I've experienced with what she is going through. To try to understand...to empathize...when I was thinking about not doing those tests it was under the assumption that as long as the baby came out breathing and with a heartbeat that we could overcome anything else...I never considered the alternative.....
I haven't thought this much about anything for awhile...I guess I want to know what other people think about it, what you've gone through...for those of you who are prego or have been, or want to be...what are your concerns/scares/praise reports about experiences you've gone through/heard about....
My friend was given the choice of wanting to carry the child to term/ carry the baby as long as the body allows for it to, or to terminate the pregnancy themselves. How does one make this decision?
There's the perspective that baby is still a baby, so voluntarily ending the pregancy at any point is abortion...but how does one emotionally carry a child in the womb knowing it won't live? I guess the idea of spending as much time with your child would be something to cherish because a life is a life.
I'm not supporting any one decision, I don't have an agenda with this post. I have an open mind about all of the above...I just feel the need to write about this. I know of other friends who have miscarried later in the pregnancy and I saw how emotional it was for them. I never talked to them about it personally...I never knew how to broach the conversation about it since we are friends, just not so close that I felt I could talk to her about it.
My question is not why does God let these things happen, but more...how do we cope with such .....I can't even think of how to describe it. I know that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, that He works miracles, that He will never forsake us. I am grateful that I didn't have to go through anything like this with my children. We volunarily have decided to stop having children. Jake got snipped 3 weeks after Imogen was born.
I feel ...I'm not sure how I feel. I know people, and have friends who struggle with infertility and want a baby more than anything. I don't understand why some people get pregnant without trying, how single teenagers get pregnant after having sex one time, how some women try and try and try and finally conceive only to have some kind of complication and lose the baby...I guess in a weird way that I'm cheating...I know I'm not going to say this right, but...I feel bad in a way, that we had it so easy...that we feel our family is complete that we want to move on with our lives and don't feel the need/want to have anymore kids, yet there are all these people that still can't have a child, or can't have another one, or are struggling to have another one...you get the picture. I just wish it was easy for everyone...
I know everyone is different and I believe that things happen for a reason...in a way it makes me love and cherish my babes that much more. I know we are blessed and I never want to feel held back by my kids. They are a blessing not only to me and Jake, they are a blessing to everyone that lays eyes on their beautiful little faces.
To all my friends out there, my heart goes out to your families whether you are single, married, in a relationship, with child, enjoying a newborn, or are on your umpteenth baby. Cherish the life you have. Live it to the fullest. Bless others around you. Remember Jesus died for you and to show his Love to others in everything you do. Love one another....I'll leave you with Hard Rock Cafe's mantra:
Love All Serve All
please leave a comment about your thoughts....I think people need to hear...
as always, thank you for reading.
I'm writing this because I have a lot of friends who are pregant right now, or trying to get pregnant. One friend in particular just found out that the 20 week baby she is carrying is missing some vital organs and has been told that it probably won't beable to survive outside of the womb. Heart Breaking. Speechless.
We never did any genetic testing with our pregnancies because my thought had always been if something were to come up, how would that change anything. I would still have the baby, so why not just have the baby and figure things out after the fact....my friends situation isn't genetically relevant, but I've been thinking about the convo I had with her about her situation....and am trying to relate anything I've experienced with what she is going through. To try to understand...to empathize...when I was thinking about not doing those tests it was under the assumption that as long as the baby came out breathing and with a heartbeat that we could overcome anything else...I never considered the alternative.....
I haven't thought this much about anything for awhile...I guess I want to know what other people think about it, what you've gone through...for those of you who are prego or have been, or want to be...what are your concerns/scares/praise reports about experiences you've gone through/heard about....
My friend was given the choice of wanting to carry the child to term/ carry the baby as long as the body allows for it to, or to terminate the pregnancy themselves. How does one make this decision?
There's the perspective that baby is still a baby, so voluntarily ending the pregancy at any point is abortion...but how does one emotionally carry a child in the womb knowing it won't live? I guess the idea of spending as much time with your child would be something to cherish because a life is a life.
I'm not supporting any one decision, I don't have an agenda with this post. I have an open mind about all of the above...I just feel the need to write about this. I know of other friends who have miscarried later in the pregnancy and I saw how emotional it was for them. I never talked to them about it personally...I never knew how to broach the conversation about it since we are friends, just not so close that I felt I could talk to her about it.
My question is not why does God let these things happen, but more...how do we cope with such .....I can't even think of how to describe it. I know that God doesn't give us more than we can handle, that He works miracles, that He will never forsake us. I am grateful that I didn't have to go through anything like this with my children. We volunarily have decided to stop having children. Jake got snipped 3 weeks after Imogen was born.
I feel ...I'm not sure how I feel. I know people, and have friends who struggle with infertility and want a baby more than anything. I don't understand why some people get pregnant without trying, how single teenagers get pregnant after having sex one time, how some women try and try and try and finally conceive only to have some kind of complication and lose the baby...I guess in a weird way that I'm cheating...I know I'm not going to say this right, but...I feel bad in a way, that we had it so easy...that we feel our family is complete that we want to move on with our lives and don't feel the need/want to have anymore kids, yet there are all these people that still can't have a child, or can't have another one, or are struggling to have another one...you get the picture. I just wish it was easy for everyone...
I know everyone is different and I believe that things happen for a reason...in a way it makes me love and cherish my babes that much more. I know we are blessed and I never want to feel held back by my kids. They are a blessing not only to me and Jake, they are a blessing to everyone that lays eyes on their beautiful little faces.
To all my friends out there, my heart goes out to your families whether you are single, married, in a relationship, with child, enjoying a newborn, or are on your umpteenth baby. Cherish the life you have. Live it to the fullest. Bless others around you. Remember Jesus died for you and to show his Love to others in everything you do. Love one another....I'll leave you with Hard Rock Cafe's mantra:
Love All Serve All
please leave a comment about your thoughts....I think people need to hear...
as always, thank you for reading.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Birth Story
Hi there fans. Sorry for the hiatus in posts...I had a baby. Big surprise.
So I'm going to start this out by saying duh me...
When we had our ultra sound to find out the gender of our baby U2, the technician said that from the size of her, the due date was going to get put at Sept 23. However, our dates that determine when we got pregnant were fool proof...only one cycle from breast feeding to positive pregnancy test....not much room for error...so we stuck with the due date of Sept 11....silly me...she came out on the 23rd....so 12 days late? or on time...you decide...her records will always say 12 days late....was it really late, or just me hoping to have her out sooner than later?
We got home from San Diego all ready to have baby U2...time came and went. Due date came, Jake's parents came, we went hiking a few times trying to encourage her to come out...to no avail. We went to Cafe Trio for their labor inducing pizza (lots of roasted garlic...) Didn't work. Ate pineapple, drank red raspberry leaf tea, took some evening primrose, and even a few doses of black and blue cohosh...nothing was getting this girl going. Mike and Mary's trip came and went. Jake and I toyed with the idea of inducing her before the Ulasich's had to go home...but in the end really wanted to go into labor naturally.
Time kept ticking away, Jojo and Sarah's wedding reception came and went. That was fun having everyone ask me when I was going to have that baby...really people?..haha...every night I went to bed hoping I'd wake up with contractions....still nothing to get excited about. We had a non stress test...everything was looking fine on the inside..but because when you are over 41 weeks, the placenta can go bad...I was getting a little nervous. We decided to schedule the induction with the advice of the midwife. We wanted it for friday the 23rd, but they were full so we opted for the Thursday before. I didn't want to wait through another weekend...too much mental stress.
So at 730am on 9/22 we got the call to come into the hospital for induction at 9am. We delivered at IMC with the midwives (LOVED IT! Highly recommend.)
I called my Terri mom....Vickie mom had flown in that Tuesday so she came with us, I called Melissa B to come up to the hospital...Betty M THANKFULLY was able to stay with Emmaus...and we were off. Once we got settled into the room and the midwife came in to check me out I was expecting things to get going quickly and we'd have U2 in our arms in no time....not so much. When the midwife did the first check to see how far I was...I was still barely at a 1...not even all the way through ....grrr...some of the other midwives had said I was at a 1 for like a week,and the last appointment had said I was 1 and a wiggle...I have never been so happy to hear I was a wiggle..but that wiggle apparently went away over night..SO
Next step was to take Cytotech..(not sure how to spell that.) Cervical ripener...a little pill that I had to keep in my mouth till it disolved...So I sat in bed, walked around a little bit..I was hooked up to a fetal monitor..if I remember correctly...so jake and I were walking around together, he was holding the monitor around his neck...it was quite adorable.
After 4 doses (I think..) and 24 hours later we were finally 100% effaced...and at a 2. I didn't think that was much progress for 24 hours and I had my break down and started crying and losing it...sigh. Midwife came in to break my water..tough little thing it was too..again. no surprise (gma's water never broke naturally, neither did moms, nor did we with emmaus.) They started the Pitocin and we were off...NO epidural!
On came the more severe contractions....I think serious labor went on for about 6 hours. We were in every position imaginable....nothing was really doing it for me...hands and knees...on my side, in the tub, with the pole...I had someone pushing on my back the entire time..thanks again everyone..sometimes it helped me get through the contractions sometimes it didn't...I couldn't figure out what was working...I'm sure everyone was getting frustrated with me...but they only showed me love....such a great group of peeps..including the nurses. Couldn't have done it without them.
The midwives were extremely busy that day...tons of induction/labors...so another midwife who wasn't supposed to be on the floor walked into my room...just in time. We were struggling trying to get into a position that would work and she very calmly says have you tried....yadayadayada...I didn't care which position it was, I just wanted help!! So she had me sit up in the bed...it converted into what I like to call a throne..I was sitting up, and the midwife pushed on my knees so that my back was flush up against the bed...it's hard to explain...point being..the pain seemed to miraculously go away...it was amazing. I went from freaking out to being able to breath through the contractions...it was magic! Praise God for Ida walking in when she did.
From there on out..things went well...then an hour of pushing...and out came Imogen Silver Leigh Ulasich! (Her name origin...We had 2 names picked out...Imogen Leigh and Silver Joy. I knew Jake would have a very hard time not picking Imogen...so close to delivery date I had an idea to add Silver as a second middle name since we are done having kids...he agreed and there it was. We got Imogen primarily Imogen Heap..she's a british musician that we both like a lot...from the band Frou Frou..perhaps you heard them on the Garden State soundtrack...then I found out that Imogen is also a Shakespearian princess from the play Cymbeline...and a photographer, and an actor I think...and the aunt in the newest Alice in wonderland..which makes me think the character is in the book, and someone told me it was Julia Stiles characters name in a movie ...Down to you..or something like that with Freddy Prince...and it's the name of a British war ship...so not as obscure as Emmaus...we like it. and I said her name to her today (11/3) and she smiled..hehe...me think she likes it too.)
4:09 pm on Sept 23, 2011. She was breathing and they handed her to me immediately. The chord was a little short, someone was pulling on it...and after all that pain of pushing etc...that is the most memorable pain...the tugging of the chord before it had been cut...haha. (Jake cut the chord.) My placenta was HUGE...I won't post the picture, but it was like 10 lbs...I'd say like 12 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide...crazy huge. Imogen got cleaned up 7.14.5 lbs 21 inches...just .5 oz. off from her brother...someone told us 7.15 so that is what we announced, and I wasn't going to correct it over .5 oz anyway...so we'll just say they were the same.
When she came out she was wide eyed and looking around, she latched after they had her all weighed and measured, that was amazing...we didn't get to hold emmaus until a few days after he was born due to the whole NICU thing.
The rest was normal...went to the post-pardum department, got woken up every few hours by the nurses and the baby to feed..Emmaus came up that night to meet his sister wearing his awesome big brother scrubs I bought for him. He seemed to love her immediately. And he seemed to understand that sister was no longer in mama's tummy but that sister was now, this baby. I thought that was cool.
anything I left out?...if you have any questions let me know.
Our family is complete, all is healthy happy a little sleep deprived, but we'll get over that. Thanks for reading my novella, I look forward to posting more about life and the various goings on with me...
as always...
So I'm going to start this out by saying duh me...
When we had our ultra sound to find out the gender of our baby U2, the technician said that from the size of her, the due date was going to get put at Sept 23. However, our dates that determine when we got pregnant were fool proof...only one cycle from breast feeding to positive pregnancy test....not much room for error...so we stuck with the due date of Sept 11....silly me...she came out on the 23rd....so 12 days late? or on time...you decide...her records will always say 12 days late....was it really late, or just me hoping to have her out sooner than later?
We got home from San Diego all ready to have baby U2...time came and went. Due date came, Jake's parents came, we went hiking a few times trying to encourage her to come out...to no avail. We went to Cafe Trio for their labor inducing pizza (lots of roasted garlic...) Didn't work. Ate pineapple, drank red raspberry leaf tea, took some evening primrose, and even a few doses of black and blue cohosh...nothing was getting this girl going. Mike and Mary's trip came and went. Jake and I toyed with the idea of inducing her before the Ulasich's had to go home...but in the end really wanted to go into labor naturally.
Time kept ticking away, Jojo and Sarah's wedding reception came and went. That was fun having everyone ask me when I was going to have that baby...really people?..haha...every night I went to bed hoping I'd wake up with contractions....still nothing to get excited about. We had a non stress test...everything was looking fine on the inside..but because when you are over 41 weeks, the placenta can go bad...I was getting a little nervous. We decided to schedule the induction with the advice of the midwife. We wanted it for friday the 23rd, but they were full so we opted for the Thursday before. I didn't want to wait through another weekend...too much mental stress.
So at 730am on 9/22 we got the call to come into the hospital for induction at 9am. We delivered at IMC with the midwives (LOVED IT! Highly recommend.)
I called my Terri mom....Vickie mom had flown in that Tuesday so she came with us, I called Melissa B to come up to the hospital...Betty M THANKFULLY was able to stay with Emmaus...and we were off. Once we got settled into the room and the midwife came in to check me out I was expecting things to get going quickly and we'd have U2 in our arms in no time....not so much. When the midwife did the first check to see how far I was...I was still barely at a 1...not even all the way through ....grrr...some of the other midwives had said I was at a 1 for like a week,and the last appointment had said I was 1 and a wiggle...I have never been so happy to hear I was a wiggle..but that wiggle apparently went away over night..SO
Next step was to take Cytotech..(not sure how to spell that.) Cervical ripener...a little pill that I had to keep in my mouth till it disolved...So I sat in bed, walked around a little bit..I was hooked up to a fetal monitor..if I remember correctly...so jake and I were walking around together, he was holding the monitor around his neck...it was quite adorable.
After 4 doses (I think..) and 24 hours later we were finally 100% effaced...and at a 2. I didn't think that was much progress for 24 hours and I had my break down and started crying and losing it...sigh. Midwife came in to break my water..tough little thing it was too..again. no surprise (gma's water never broke naturally, neither did moms, nor did we with emmaus.) They started the Pitocin and we were off...NO epidural!
On came the more severe contractions....I think serious labor went on for about 6 hours. We were in every position imaginable....nothing was really doing it for me...hands and knees...on my side, in the tub, with the pole...I had someone pushing on my back the entire time..thanks again everyone..sometimes it helped me get through the contractions sometimes it didn't...I couldn't figure out what was working...I'm sure everyone was getting frustrated with me...but they only showed me love....such a great group of peeps..including the nurses. Couldn't have done it without them.
The midwives were extremely busy that day...tons of induction/labors...so another midwife who wasn't supposed to be on the floor walked into my room...just in time. We were struggling trying to get into a position that would work and she very calmly says have you tried....yadayadayada...I didn't care which position it was, I just wanted help!! So she had me sit up in the bed...it converted into what I like to call a throne..I was sitting up, and the midwife pushed on my knees so that my back was flush up against the bed...it's hard to explain...point being..the pain seemed to miraculously go away...it was amazing. I went from freaking out to being able to breath through the contractions...it was magic! Praise God for Ida walking in when she did.
From there on out..things went well...then an hour of pushing...and out came Imogen Silver Leigh Ulasich! (Her name origin...We had 2 names picked out...Imogen Leigh and Silver Joy. I knew Jake would have a very hard time not picking Imogen...so close to delivery date I had an idea to add Silver as a second middle name since we are done having kids...he agreed and there it was. We got Imogen primarily Imogen Heap..she's a british musician that we both like a lot...from the band Frou Frou..perhaps you heard them on the Garden State soundtrack...then I found out that Imogen is also a Shakespearian princess from the play Cymbeline...and a photographer, and an actor I think...and the aunt in the newest Alice in wonderland..which makes me think the character is in the book, and someone told me it was Julia Stiles characters name in a movie ...Down to you..or something like that with Freddy Prince...and it's the name of a British war ship...so not as obscure as Emmaus...we like it. and I said her name to her today (11/3) and she smiled..hehe...me think she likes it too.)
4:09 pm on Sept 23, 2011. She was breathing and they handed her to me immediately. The chord was a little short, someone was pulling on it...and after all that pain of pushing etc...that is the most memorable pain...the tugging of the chord before it had been cut...haha. (Jake cut the chord.) My placenta was HUGE...I won't post the picture, but it was like 10 lbs...I'd say like 12 inches long and 6 to 8 inches wide...crazy huge. Imogen got cleaned up 7.14.5 lbs 21 inches...just .5 oz. off from her brother...someone told us 7.15 so that is what we announced, and I wasn't going to correct it over .5 oz anyway...so we'll just say they were the same.
When she came out she was wide eyed and looking around, she latched after they had her all weighed and measured, that was amazing...we didn't get to hold emmaus until a few days after he was born due to the whole NICU thing.
The rest was normal...went to the post-pardum department, got woken up every few hours by the nurses and the baby to feed..Emmaus came up that night to meet his sister wearing his awesome big brother scrubs I bought for him. He seemed to love her immediately. And he seemed to understand that sister was no longer in mama's tummy but that sister was now, this baby. I thought that was cool.
anything I left out?...if you have any questions let me know.
Our family is complete, all is healthy happy a little sleep deprived, but we'll get over that. Thanks for reading my novella, I look forward to posting more about life and the various goings on with me...
as always...
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Hunger Games...
I wanted to blog about something other than the normal everyday life stuff...and this came to mind.
The Hunger Games
We rented the audio book from the library for our road trip to Cali. (I'll plug this again: audio books are life savers on long road trips. I look forward to when Emmaus is old enough to listen with enjoyment as well. Jake was enthralled with it....it kept him awake and interested and happy to keep driving....yea!)
The book. I had heard from a few coworkers that this book was AmaZing! So it was an easy choice for the trip. And it was a good book. They are making it into a movie...as we listened to it, it was quite obvious that it would make the transition to screenplay quite easily.
I'm not about to do a book review on it....I'm an easy sell. Jake didn't love how it ended...He'd have to write his own blog about. I however thought the ending was just fine. It definitely set up the 2nd book. (It's a trilogy as of right now...we haven't read the other 2 yet.) but I thoguht it was a decent ending in and of itself. I don't want to say too much, just in case you haven't read it yet. (I think it's worth the read.)
I like how these young adult fiction books have such a vast audience. It's not just for kids, or we are all just big kids...I'm leaning towards the latter.
So there you have it.
I'm still reading East of Eden, edging towards the end of that one too. I'm really enjoying it...curious where it's going to go now...If you haven't read that one, I suggest it too.
(I guess the moral of this post is: if you are going on a road trip, get an audio book....it makes the trip much more enjoyable...except when the passenger takes a nap and has to ask for the recap...haha.)
The Hunger Games
We rented the audio book from the library for our road trip to Cali. (I'll plug this again: audio books are life savers on long road trips. I look forward to when Emmaus is old enough to listen with enjoyment as well. Jake was enthralled with it....it kept him awake and interested and happy to keep driving....yea!)
The book. I had heard from a few coworkers that this book was AmaZing! So it was an easy choice for the trip. And it was a good book. They are making it into a movie...as we listened to it, it was quite obvious that it would make the transition to screenplay quite easily.
I'm not about to do a book review on it....I'm an easy sell. Jake didn't love how it ended...He'd have to write his own blog about. I however thought the ending was just fine. It definitely set up the 2nd book. (It's a trilogy as of right now...we haven't read the other 2 yet.) but I thoguht it was a decent ending in and of itself. I don't want to say too much, just in case you haven't read it yet. (I think it's worth the read.)
I like how these young adult fiction books have such a vast audience. It's not just for kids, or we are all just big kids...I'm leaning towards the latter.
So there you have it.
I'm still reading East of Eden, edging towards the end of that one too. I'm really enjoying it...curious where it's going to go now...If you haven't read that one, I suggest it too.
(I guess the moral of this post is: if you are going on a road trip, get an audio book....it makes the trip much more enjoyable...except when the passenger takes a nap and has to ask for the recap...haha.)
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Last Summer Hoorah
Short Version: Trip was great. Wonderful sunny weather. Sea World was fun. Wedding was beautiful. We saw 3 different beaches: Mission Beach , LaJolla Cove, Ocean Beach. Stopped by Balboa park. Trip was 15 hours each way, but well worth it and quite enjoyable. Oh, and of course we stopped by the Hard Rock as well.
Long detailed version:
Jojo's wedding means road trip to San Diego for the Ulasich clan. Perfect excuse to get Jake to sunny California. This has been his destination of choice since we met just over 5 years ago. I also wanted to take Emmaus on a family vacation while he was still an only child. He has traveled a little bit, but I wanted this too.
We rented a mini van in Salt Lake for the drive down. A: We wanted the extra space for the drive. (And that turned out to be so very nice.) B: We had to take an extra car seat and emergency hospital bag "just in case." C: We arranged to be the airport picker-uppers for mom and dad and Bill/all around transportation peeps (in exchange for them helping a little with the cost of the van.) That worked out well too. I think it added to the amount of time we got to see eachother since it was a quick trip for them.
15 hours later, pb and j, lots of air conditioning, Finding Nemo, Shrek I and II, Despereaux, Signing Time for emmaus, and Hunger Games on audio book for jake and me, lots of potty stops, and our first ever trip to Mcdonalds play ground, and about an hour of Cali traffic, we pulled into our hotel (Thanks to our smart phone/google maps!!) Emmaus was great on the trip...only one break down, and who could blame him....that's a long time in a car, and it was just about his nap time when he lost it...he's a trooper.
First thing Friday morning we went to Sea World!
(Thanks again Brook for the tip on that coupon..So happy to be able to go back multiple days at the same price as one day!!) The place looks so different from the fist time I was there (13 years ago I think it was...wow, I'm old...hehe.) We saw the penguins, Shamu's show, Blue horizon (the dolphins/pilot whales, and some really cool diving.)
We stopped at In and Out for some much needed food (mama and baby were about spent without it...) airport, hotel, sushi (daddy's place of choice), then to the "rehearsal." Jake and I didn't NEED to be there, but since we were dropping off the parents, we decided to stay and hang and be around the wedding party people anyway....it was fun seeing Andrea and the kids...
Saturday mom, dad, jake, emmaus and I went out to Mission beach.
I didn't venture into the cold water....A: it was cold, B: I didn't trust myself...stability and all...so I stayed on the sand with Emmaus...mamaw and papaw showed him how to play on the beach. Emmaus wasn't too excited about the sand crabs...wasn't sure what they were I think. Mamaw showed him how to draw letters/lines in the sand..
. and we found a shovel...that was fun for awhile too...oh and the kelp...he liked carrying that around too. Emmaus didn't want to go into the water. Too cold, and I think too big for him....we did get a little wet together, but that was enough...for both of us I think.
Next we ran a few errands that needed to be done before the wedding started...lunch etc.., then we drove out to La Jolla Cove....It was CRAZY BUSY.
Not the best place for a 19 month old. I took a few pics, then we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for the wedding. We made a quick stop over to Jojo and Sarah's place to get acquainted with how to drive there for the airport run the next morning. Cute place.
The Wedding: The backyard was such a great backdrop for the wedding. The organizers did a great job with everything. From tiki lights to tissue paper flowers and other lighting, the scene was set. It started exactly at 7:00pm. Normal ceremony, they had communion together, Sarah surprised Jojo with washing his feet. That was really sweet. Then they ran down the isle after the kiss and wedding band exchange...(They all had on Tom's.) They took some pics, then there was some dancing, some dining, some speeches, and some very tired children. Jake laid on the grass so Emmaus could fall asleep on his chest. (Such a grand daddy.) It was nice to see Paul and Alicia. We'll have to go up north on the next road trip and pay them a proper visit.
They exited the reception via a line of sparklers...and that was that. (Their thank you's were bags of candy that you got to fill up from some really stylish, huge candy dishes...hard to explain, I'm sure there will be some photos on FB eventually.) I liked the photo booth that they had set up...I think it was a friend of jojo's from his UCSD group....it printed 4 pics with the wedding date and their names on it....with a copy for the couple and a copy to keep. Cute idea.
Sunday morning I woke up at like 345am to take some peeps to the airport. (There names are supposed to remain annonymous, so I can't say who I took.-sorry) I made it there and back without any hitches...very proud of myself for driving on the 5, the 163, and the 805 I think it was...all alone. Yea me (and the smart phone!)
We went back to Sea World, saw sharks, turtles,
We ate really pricy pizza and I had a nice salad...(totally expensive, but I was really wanting some veggies..we hadn't had many since the trip started.) saw the sea lion show...love how they make it funny, I really think this is one of the most entertaining shows Sea World has to offer.
On the way out, we stopped by the Arctic exhibit and saw the beluga whales and some polar bears and a walrus....it was cool (literally.)
Then we left for the beach, but I had to stop to eat something...I was getting way too hungry/irritable to function without food, so we stopped at a thai place, they were closed, kept walking and found a really cute mexican restaraunt that advertised vegetarian too (Bill was happy about that.) It felt good to sit down and eat a full meal.
We made it to the beach...I had wanted to be there at sunset, but didn't look like that would happen, but it DID happen! The boys went out and played in the water for what felt like hours. The life guards sent out a message to clear the water as the sun fell below the horizon. I was very grateful because Emmaus didn't want to go near the water, nor walk on the sand. He's so heavy and with my big belly it's nearly impossible to carry him comfortably for more than a minute...so he was only entertained by playing with my Canon...and with his little fingers probing for my lens...that is hands covered in sand...I was getting beyond tolerant of his wishes. Needless to say the lifeguards call was an answer to prayer...it sucks being stuck like that. 
We got back to the hotel, started packing up and had another very early morning dropping Bill off at the airport. We started the drive home at 5 ish and got into SLC around 9ish (our time.) 15 hours there and back...including a dinner stop at Wendy's. Emmaus did well, and we were sooo grateful to have David: the backseat babysitter with us. Emmaus kept watching his collection of movies, snacking and sleeping. Only made one big fuss about 5 hours into the trip...but I don't blame him. He is a great traveling companion. I hope that his sister is too! (Jake and I listened to the rest of the Hunger Games (really liked this book, and am looking forward to either reading or listening to the other 2 books/and happy the movie is comingo ut too.) and got through 4/5 discs for Wrinkle in Time too...I think I mentioned that we won't be doing anymore road trips without an audio book...LIFE SAVERS.
Thanks for sticking wtih arduous task of reading my very detailed depiction of our California end of summer horrah!
Stay tuned for birth details!!! (as soon as I have some to share that is..hehe.)
Monday, August 15, 2011
long time...
I was just looking at this blog and realized that I haven't added pictues in a long while...I'm lame. I'm fairly sure all my readers are on FB, so you've hopefull seen some pics, but I wanted to put a few on here too....In hopes of loading more soon....from my shower, for emmaus' 18months and a look at the belly....36 weeks and counting. This picture was from a few weeks ago...I think week 33....not sure, I definitely took more pics the first time...partially cause jake was willing to take them. I burned him out last time.
(This is at Silver Lake up by Brighton ski resort.)
This was a pic of me and my daddy from when I went up to the canyon with Oasis...again, this was in late July...so I was just about 34 weeks. We both look a little puffy in this picture, I think it was early, and the altitude...at least, i hope so..haha
I"ll get more loaded on here soon. I realized I used to write blogs more often, more clever, and more...fun. I'll see if I can start that again. It's fun to go back and reread stuff....
If you are still out there...thanks for reading.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
18 months today!
I've shared a few of these things on Facebook, but I wanted to post it here too.
Emmaus is freaking awesome. I know I'm biased, but some of the things he does, I just don't expect....examples to follow:
We're watching Shrek the other night (the new one)....something funny happens on the show (can't remember the details...I'll have to ask jake...) Neither jake or I laugh....but there's emmaus sitting up front just giggling away....such a good sense of humor he has. (of course his laugh made us laugh...)
Sunday night we were at a friends house for Bible study and it was getting a little late...emmaus walks over to where his pack and play is sitting...starts dragging it towards us so we'll set it up for him. We get him into the back room and set it up...he lays down without a peep. (Jake used to ask to go to bed when he was 2 (he'd already given up naps according to the stories I've heard...like father like son.)
Mamma sneezes, emmaus says bless you.
Emmaus sees someone drinking something in one of his books. He says/signs drink. Jake and I try to remember where his Camelbak is....so we tell emmaus..."it's in the side pocket of your diaper bag.....in your room." a few minutes later he comes back holding his camelbak.
A few weeks ago, mommy (I) was laying down on the couch and jake had just finished making dinner. I asked Emmaus to help me up. I reached out my hand and asked him said "pull." he wasn't sure what to do so I said "back up" and I grunted ...so he knew he was supposed to ..pull. It worked, he pulled me up...and we ate dinner together. So NOW, whenever I am sitting on the couch, laying in bed, or sitting on the floor and emmaus wants me to get up and go ....he grabs my hand and says "pull" and grunts....you can't say no to that!
We finished a walk last week or so ago...I helped show Emmaus how to take his shoes and socks off...he giggled..it was cute. So then I aked him to put his shoes away...off he goes to the shoe rack at the front door. Then I ask him to put his socks in the dirty basket in his room....he leaves the room....and comes back without them. I asked jake to go check his room....low and behold (what does that really mean anyway..) he had put his smelly sweaty socks in his dirty laundry bin.
Those are all the cute stories I can think of right now...
Interesting enough...Jake made stirfry last week...with my suggestion of adding noodles instead of rice...success. Emmaus loves them...we had zucc, squash, brocc, red peppers and chicken in there. Emmaus ate the veggies and the noodles, but didn't want the chicken. Even after giving him more left overs, he kept picking out the chicken...no worries because he gets plenty of protein, just kind of weird I thought...oh, and did I mention he LOVES edamame, and our zucc soup...
He's tall, and is talking a lot...Jake and I look at eachother sometimes trying to figure out what he's saying...I hate asking emmaus to repeat himself, or clarify, I don't want him second guessing himself, but some of the stuff he says ..I have NO idea what he's saying. We're trying to couple words with signs as much as possible, but sometimes that's just not possible.
He's started coloring and is doing a really good job with it. I came home from work yest. and jake had taped up a canvas on the side of our desk. Looks like they had a great time together. Emmaus loves our shrek coloring book (I had this like 3 years ago...) He colors on it, and keeps coloring over things, colors in over peoples faces, and loves to point out shrek and cat...sometimes fiona, but hasn't gotten that word down yet...smiles.
He's amazing and well loved... he still kisses my belly when we say kiss sissy, or where is sister.
Less than 6 weeks ladies and gentleman, and baby U2 makes her debut...
as always, thanks for reading.
Emmaus is freaking awesome. I know I'm biased, but some of the things he does, I just don't expect....examples to follow:
We're watching Shrek the other night (the new one)....something funny happens on the show (can't remember the details...I'll have to ask jake...) Neither jake or I laugh....but there's emmaus sitting up front just giggling away....such a good sense of humor he has. (of course his laugh made us laugh...)
Sunday night we were at a friends house for Bible study and it was getting a little late...emmaus walks over to where his pack and play is sitting...starts dragging it towards us so we'll set it up for him. We get him into the back room and set it up...he lays down without a peep. (Jake used to ask to go to bed when he was 2 (he'd already given up naps according to the stories I've heard...like father like son.)
Mamma sneezes, emmaus says bless you.
Emmaus sees someone drinking something in one of his books. He says/signs drink. Jake and I try to remember where his Camelbak is....so we tell emmaus..."it's in the side pocket of your diaper bag.....in your room." a few minutes later he comes back holding his camelbak.
A few weeks ago, mommy (I) was laying down on the couch and jake had just finished making dinner. I asked Emmaus to help me up. I reached out my hand and asked him said "pull." he wasn't sure what to do so I said "back up" and I grunted ...so he knew he was supposed to ..pull. It worked, he pulled me up...and we ate dinner together. So NOW, whenever I am sitting on the couch, laying in bed, or sitting on the floor and emmaus wants me to get up and go ....he grabs my hand and says "pull" and grunts....you can't say no to that!
We finished a walk last week or so ago...I helped show Emmaus how to take his shoes and socks off...he giggled..it was cute. So then I aked him to put his shoes away...off he goes to the shoe rack at the front door. Then I ask him to put his socks in the dirty basket in his room....he leaves the room....and comes back without them. I asked jake to go check his room....low and behold (what does that really mean anyway..) he had put his smelly sweaty socks in his dirty laundry bin.
Those are all the cute stories I can think of right now...
Interesting enough...Jake made stirfry last week...with my suggestion of adding noodles instead of rice...success. Emmaus loves them...we had zucc, squash, brocc, red peppers and chicken in there. Emmaus ate the veggies and the noodles, but didn't want the chicken. Even after giving him more left overs, he kept picking out the chicken...no worries because he gets plenty of protein, just kind of weird I thought...oh, and did I mention he LOVES edamame, and our zucc soup...
He's tall, and is talking a lot...Jake and I look at eachother sometimes trying to figure out what he's saying...I hate asking emmaus to repeat himself, or clarify, I don't want him second guessing himself, but some of the stuff he says ..I have NO idea what he's saying. We're trying to couple words with signs as much as possible, but sometimes that's just not possible.
He's started coloring and is doing a really good job with it. I came home from work yest. and jake had taped up a canvas on the side of our desk. Looks like they had a great time together. Emmaus loves our shrek coloring book (I had this like 3 years ago...) He colors on it, and keeps coloring over things, colors in over peoples faces, and loves to point out shrek and cat...sometimes fiona, but hasn't gotten that word down yet...smiles.
He's amazing and well loved... he still kisses my belly when we say kiss sissy, or where is sister.
Less than 6 weeks ladies and gentleman, and baby U2 makes her debut...
as always, thanks for reading.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Coming down to the wire (Ladies only...)
We're 33 weeks yest. that leaves 2 weeks till schools done, one week till shower 2 weeks till vacation/jojo's wedding, then 2 weeks at home to chill/wait. Sounds like a funfilled 7 weeks to me.
Now's the time when I'm starting to freak out about plans for postpartum/labor and delivery logistics. So here's my concerns/issues. Any advice or suggestions my readers have, let me know. I need all the reassurance I can get.
Mike and Mary are driving in close to the due date. Hopefully they'll be here, but never a guarantee, since they are coming in from Minneapolis. Mom will just be getting back from Mexico/working/planning for Jojo and Sarah's reception right around the time baby U2 will be coming. Dad will be working as well. My other trusted Emmaus watcher has a newborn at home and her own 2 year old to worry about. I'm not sure how to put together a list of people to look after Emmaus during labor. I have NO idea what to expect this time around. Last time I was in bed/walking around for a good 20 hours laboring before we got wisked away to the hospital for another 20 hours. Jake said he'd be at home with Emmaus during the night while I am in the hospital postpartum. I can't think of who to ask to care for my sweet boy while I'm having this baby. I hate to rely on other people for things like this, but then I know I have a lot of people who care and love us tremendously and would jump at the chance to help us out in this emergency..since it's not a planned induction and you know how labor can start whenever it darn well pleases.
Then theirs the postpartum stuff. Last time I was taken care of by moms and best friends, and jes on top of the hospital staff, this time, it seems like everyone/thing is iffy and since we have Emmaus in the equation too, I'm getting nervous. I know I'm hormonal, and I know things will work out, but I want to have a tentative plan in place, and a planb and possible c if I need to be. This new addition to the family will be a big enough shock for him, I want Emmaus to be loved and cared for while I'm away for however long. (hopefully the shortest amount of time possible.)
So postpartum....care: I remember the hospital doing these make shift ice packs, disposable underwear, tucks pads some numming spray etc etc etc. So Ladies out there with experience, what did you use for your postpartum? What do I need to buy before these 7 weeks rush passed us? I want to have as much in place as I can so Jake won't have to do more than he needs to. He'll have his hands full enough as is.
My mom is coming to town about a week later, so we'll have her around for that stuff too, which will be nice, it's this immediate stuff that has my mind in a tizzy.
As always, this is just me thinking out loud, trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. Sigh, and breath.
Again, any support or suggestions are much appreciated. I'm not trying to be a spaz, but I think that's what I sound like. Jake is trying to understand, but he's getting frustrated with me I think...as any man would/should when dealing with a crazy pregnant lady. I'm frustrated with me too!!!
Now's the time when I'm starting to freak out about plans for postpartum/labor and delivery logistics. So here's my concerns/issues. Any advice or suggestions my readers have, let me know. I need all the reassurance I can get.
Mike and Mary are driving in close to the due date. Hopefully they'll be here, but never a guarantee, since they are coming in from Minneapolis. Mom will just be getting back from Mexico/working/planning for Jojo and Sarah's reception right around the time baby U2 will be coming. Dad will be working as well. My other trusted Emmaus watcher has a newborn at home and her own 2 year old to worry about. I'm not sure how to put together a list of people to look after Emmaus during labor. I have NO idea what to expect this time around. Last time I was in bed/walking around for a good 20 hours laboring before we got wisked away to the hospital for another 20 hours. Jake said he'd be at home with Emmaus during the night while I am in the hospital postpartum. I can't think of who to ask to care for my sweet boy while I'm having this baby. I hate to rely on other people for things like this, but then I know I have a lot of people who care and love us tremendously and would jump at the chance to help us out in this emergency..since it's not a planned induction and you know how labor can start whenever it darn well pleases.
Then theirs the postpartum stuff. Last time I was taken care of by moms and best friends, and jes on top of the hospital staff, this time, it seems like everyone/thing is iffy and since we have Emmaus in the equation too, I'm getting nervous. I know I'm hormonal, and I know things will work out, but I want to have a tentative plan in place, and a planb and possible c if I need to be. This new addition to the family will be a big enough shock for him, I want Emmaus to be loved and cared for while I'm away for however long. (hopefully the shortest amount of time possible.)
So postpartum....care: I remember the hospital doing these make shift ice packs, disposable underwear, tucks pads some numming spray etc etc etc. So Ladies out there with experience, what did you use for your postpartum? What do I need to buy before these 7 weeks rush passed us? I want to have as much in place as I can so Jake won't have to do more than he needs to. He'll have his hands full enough as is.
My mom is coming to town about a week later, so we'll have her around for that stuff too, which will be nice, it's this immediate stuff that has my mind in a tizzy.
As always, this is just me thinking out loud, trying to put all the puzzle pieces together. Sigh, and breath.
Again, any support or suggestions are much appreciated. I'm not trying to be a spaz, but I think that's what I sound like. Jake is trying to understand, but he's getting frustrated with me I think...as any man would/should when dealing with a crazy pregnant lady. I'm frustrated with me too!!!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
update
To all my dedicated fans out there...
Yest. started my 2 week intensive 3 credit hour creativity class at the U. (In addition to the 3 online classes that I've ben taking since mid-May.) I think it's going to be okay. Initially when I read the syllabus, I was very nervous. There's quite a bit of reading, and a project, and 2 papers and a 2 quizzes in the first week. However, after meeting the teacher yesterday, and sitting through the first 4 hour session, I think it's going to be a fun class. After all, part of the supplies list for the class is playdough, watercolor and construction paper.
Emmaus is growing like crazy. I need to post the pics from our recent vaca's....I literally haven't had time to even look at all of them yet. All spare time has been allocated elsewhere. He repeats, rather clearly, most things we say. He's in a big boy bed. Not drinking from his morning bottle anymore. (Didn't even seem to notice really.) He likes to say game/sign in and go to the toy box for us to play something together. I love that he says game, since we are such a game family. --that is when we have time for an actual game together. I'm really looking forward to this semester being over and having spare time again. Well that is until baby girl U2 shows up. hehe.
Jake is as always amazing in supporting me while I do all of this stuff. If anyone knows of where he can get on an ultimate frisbee team in the evening, let me know, he's been wanting something extra curricular to do, and isn't sure where or what to do. In the meantime, he's been working on some of his short stories, web design stuff, and his music. Last night he went down to practice some songs, I don't tell him enough, but I really love it when he plays. Makes me happy to hear him doing something he loves and is so talented at.
Once classes are over, we have jojo and sarah's wedding in san diego end of august, and then we wait for emmaus' sister to join us.
Until then, we'll nibble on the 6 raspberries jake's plant produced this year...good, but so few, hopefully more next year. He's so proud of his garden, and I love that he loves it.
Thanks for reading.
Yest. started my 2 week intensive 3 credit hour creativity class at the U. (In addition to the 3 online classes that I've ben taking since mid-May.) I think it's going to be okay. Initially when I read the syllabus, I was very nervous. There's quite a bit of reading, and a project, and 2 papers and a 2 quizzes in the first week. However, after meeting the teacher yesterday, and sitting through the first 4 hour session, I think it's going to be a fun class. After all, part of the supplies list for the class is playdough, watercolor and construction paper.
Emmaus is growing like crazy. I need to post the pics from our recent vaca's....I literally haven't had time to even look at all of them yet. All spare time has been allocated elsewhere. He repeats, rather clearly, most things we say. He's in a big boy bed. Not drinking from his morning bottle anymore. (Didn't even seem to notice really.) He likes to say game/sign in and go to the toy box for us to play something together. I love that he says game, since we are such a game family. --that is when we have time for an actual game together. I'm really looking forward to this semester being over and having spare time again. Well that is until baby girl U2 shows up. hehe.
Jake is as always amazing in supporting me while I do all of this stuff. If anyone knows of where he can get on an ultimate frisbee team in the evening, let me know, he's been wanting something extra curricular to do, and isn't sure where or what to do. In the meantime, he's been working on some of his short stories, web design stuff, and his music. Last night he went down to practice some songs, I don't tell him enough, but I really love it when he plays. Makes me happy to hear him doing something he loves and is so talented at.
Once classes are over, we have jojo and sarah's wedding in san diego end of august, and then we wait for emmaus' sister to join us.
Until then, we'll nibble on the 6 raspberries jake's plant produced this year...good, but so few, hopefully more next year. He's so proud of his garden, and I love that he loves it.
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
bed, work, playtime, homework....and repeat
I wanted to blog about something, but nothing really "fun" comes to mind.
With 3 online classes, my evening are packed with text books and lectures. (After Emmaus goes to sleep.) Jake's getting a lot of time to work on short stories, and other things that he does on his laptop....He's being really patient while I try to get this degree done. He's amazing.
It feels a little weird only having one job...I'm enjoying the extra time to be at home with my boys and ...trying to spend time with my friends, although I don't see as many as I'd like...but you can't always get what you want...(What tv show does that song remind YOU of?)
We are 6 months along on baby U2....in the middle of week 26 right now, fast approaching the 3rd and final trimester...of what will probably be my last pregnancy...(although we aren't both on board with that yet....we'll see how things go...)
She's moving around a lot, last night I was taking a break from reading and had my hands on the belly, and...I pushed in a little, I think she completely flipped around, then she either kneed, elbowed, or something across the whole tummy....seriously freaky if you've never experienced it, and even if you have, still quite "alien."
Emmaus is amazing. He's talking a lot....says butterfly and baby signing time pretty clear...then again maybe we are disallusioned since we are around it all the time. He's signing a lot too, which helps him and us communicate clearer.
He loves to go outside and he's even enjoying riding in the umbrella stroller around the block...he climbs in it and out of it himself.
When I ask him where's sister, he points to my belly. (so sweet.)
He's been a bit defiant lately...swatting at us...not so much fun. He's experiencing time-out quite a bit...it's just infuriating the look he gets on his face when he's swatting....like he knows he shouldn't, but...still does it...shrug...the joys of parenting. He's a good boy, I really think this is just his age, 16 months...even though he looks like a 2 year old. (We're going to Minneapolis soon, and we get to see his cousins...I can't wait to see them together..I hope they have a blast together.)
Emmaus had another bout with ear infections, (3rd time in 6 weeks.) We took him to the doctor at the first sign...they wanted to give us another antibiotic and eye drops. My terri mom had come over just after the visit and mentioned taking him into a chiropractor. You'll have to do the research yourself, but the next day I checked with the insurance, called a chiro near our house and took him in. The guy we saw was amazing, friendly, and very familiar with toddler ear infections. I felt very confident with our choice. We've taken him in twice. The infection was dramatically better at the 2nd visit. We're going in again this friday just to confirm that he's either all better, or at least getting better. I love alternative medicine....can be sooo much more effective sometimes.
I have picked up my crochet hook again. I found an adorable baby hat I wanted to make for U2....total success and oh so cute, so now i'm making a few for other friends that are expecting, and I'm making an awesome blankey for my brother and new sister (jojo and sarah are getting married in San Diego at the end of Aug...that's going to be a fun road trip...at 38 weeks pregnant...hope we get some beach time in...and sea world)
Jake took me on a date last weekend. I got to wear my sexy dress. (The only photo I got was from my phone, I'll have to figure out how to get it on here...) We went to a friends dance recital...hip hop, jazz and such. It was a lot of fun. We grabbed sushi before hand, and after ran by my favorite Boba place...I felt spoiled....it was a great date.
Then the next day Jake got to play Ultimate in the park for a few hours, then we went to the drive-in to watch X-men: 1st class and Pirates 4. (Emmaus was already asleep for both of our outings, so we got some friends to basically house sit.) It was a fabulous weekend, thanks to my hubby. I hope he appreciates me as much as I adore and appreciate him.
Oh, and we got 6 of Jake's moles removed off his back. The doc. didn't think there was any concern with them, but the one that was really sticking out was cut off!!! YEA. 6 down, 5 more to go....(we aren't in any hurry for them to go, but knowing it only costs a copay and it's quick and easy is nice!)
Really looking forward to our trip to Minneapolis...wedding, and camping...it's going to be a blast just to be with Jake's awesomely wonderful loving family. (I'm not a fan...much!)
as always, thanks for reading.
With 3 online classes, my evening are packed with text books and lectures. (After Emmaus goes to sleep.) Jake's getting a lot of time to work on short stories, and other things that he does on his laptop....He's being really patient while I try to get this degree done. He's amazing.
It feels a little weird only having one job...I'm enjoying the extra time to be at home with my boys and ...trying to spend time with my friends, although I don't see as many as I'd like...but you can't always get what you want...(What tv show does that song remind YOU of?)
We are 6 months along on baby U2....in the middle of week 26 right now, fast approaching the 3rd and final trimester...of what will probably be my last pregnancy...(although we aren't both on board with that yet....we'll see how things go...)
She's moving around a lot, last night I was taking a break from reading and had my hands on the belly, and...I pushed in a little, I think she completely flipped around, then she either kneed, elbowed, or something across the whole tummy....seriously freaky if you've never experienced it, and even if you have, still quite "alien."
Emmaus is amazing. He's talking a lot....says butterfly and baby signing time pretty clear...then again maybe we are disallusioned since we are around it all the time. He's signing a lot too, which helps him and us communicate clearer.
He loves to go outside and he's even enjoying riding in the umbrella stroller around the block...he climbs in it and out of it himself.
When I ask him where's sister, he points to my belly. (so sweet.)
He's been a bit defiant lately...swatting at us...not so much fun. He's experiencing time-out quite a bit...it's just infuriating the look he gets on his face when he's swatting....like he knows he shouldn't, but...still does it...shrug...the joys of parenting. He's a good boy, I really think this is just his age, 16 months...even though he looks like a 2 year old. (We're going to Minneapolis soon, and we get to see his cousins...I can't wait to see them together..I hope they have a blast together.)
Emmaus had another bout with ear infections, (3rd time in 6 weeks.) We took him to the doctor at the first sign...they wanted to give us another antibiotic and eye drops. My terri mom had come over just after the visit and mentioned taking him into a chiropractor. You'll have to do the research yourself, but the next day I checked with the insurance, called a chiro near our house and took him in. The guy we saw was amazing, friendly, and very familiar with toddler ear infections. I felt very confident with our choice. We've taken him in twice. The infection was dramatically better at the 2nd visit. We're going in again this friday just to confirm that he's either all better, or at least getting better. I love alternative medicine....can be sooo much more effective sometimes.
I have picked up my crochet hook again. I found an adorable baby hat I wanted to make for U2....total success and oh so cute, so now i'm making a few for other friends that are expecting, and I'm making an awesome blankey for my brother and new sister (jojo and sarah are getting married in San Diego at the end of Aug...that's going to be a fun road trip...at 38 weeks pregnant...hope we get some beach time in...and sea world)
Jake took me on a date last weekend. I got to wear my sexy dress. (The only photo I got was from my phone, I'll have to figure out how to get it on here...) We went to a friends dance recital...hip hop, jazz and such. It was a lot of fun. We grabbed sushi before hand, and after ran by my favorite Boba place...I felt spoiled....it was a great date.
Then the next day Jake got to play Ultimate in the park for a few hours, then we went to the drive-in to watch X-men: 1st class and Pirates 4. (Emmaus was already asleep for both of our outings, so we got some friends to basically house sit.) It was a fabulous weekend, thanks to my hubby. I hope he appreciates me as much as I adore and appreciate him.
Oh, and we got 6 of Jake's moles removed off his back. The doc. didn't think there was any concern with them, but the one that was really sticking out was cut off!!! YEA. 6 down, 5 more to go....(we aren't in any hurry for them to go, but knowing it only costs a copay and it's quick and easy is nice!)
Really looking forward to our trip to Minneapolis...wedding, and camping...it's going to be a blast just to be with Jake's awesomely wonderful loving family. (I'm not a fan...much!)
as always, thanks for reading.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Trash and Pee
Jake and I were in the front room talking...Emmaus walked out of the room into the kitchen, then came back in a few minutes later. Jake and I looked at eachother, and then went into the kitchen to see what he had done. He had had a piece of crumpled up paper in his hand when he left and when he came back it was gone. The little smarty handsome awesome boy opened up our trash can, deposited the paper and then closed it!!! No prompting no nothing....This kid is unstoppable...
Then today when I got home from work Jake tells me that while he was going potty Emmaus said potty...so Jake tried to put him on his little toilet trainer, but Emmaus didn't want that...so he stood up...walked over to the toilet, pounded on the lid, till Jake opened it, and Emmaus started peeing. Obviously the little one isn't quite tall enough (yet) to reach it so it went all over the rug....but he totally did it, and wants to do it!!! Can one teach a baby to pee standing up at such a young age? I feel like I should get a stepping stool for him....curious what he'll do next.
Not to not mention that when we were in MO last week he mastered climbing up the rock wall and sliding down the slide...unassisted....I'll post that video on FB sometime soon. This "baby" boy is unbelievable...and then there's his vocabulary....verbal and signing....
I could go on...but....I'll stop.
Love this boy.
Then today when I got home from work Jake tells me that while he was going potty Emmaus said potty...so Jake tried to put him on his little toilet trainer, but Emmaus didn't want that...so he stood up...walked over to the toilet, pounded on the lid, till Jake opened it, and Emmaus started peeing. Obviously the little one isn't quite tall enough (yet) to reach it so it went all over the rug....but he totally did it, and wants to do it!!! Can one teach a baby to pee standing up at such a young age? I feel like I should get a stepping stool for him....curious what he'll do next.
Not to not mention that when we were in MO last week he mastered climbing up the rock wall and sliding down the slide...unassisted....I'll post that video on FB sometime soon. This "baby" boy is unbelievable...and then there's his vocabulary....verbal and signing....
I could go on...but....I'll stop.
Love this boy.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
sugar and spice....
As many/all of you may have heard, We are having a baby girl in September...!!!
Jake preferred a girl this time (He really likes the name we picked out -WE AREN"T ANNOUNCING the name till birth...sorry folks.), and I think I did too...although, I would have been super happy with 2 boys...
Now we have one of each, and I can have a mini me too....(Doubtful really, she'll be taller than me by 10 like my niece alex was...slight exaggeratoin, but it will happen I'm certain.)
So I'm having a itch to go buy something girlie...but I'm trying to resist until I know of something we actually need....we'll see how long that lasts...
giggles.
I looked online yesterday for some girlier diaper covers, but unsatisfied with the selections. I'm not sure what colors I want to focus on....Marroon so far is the only one that is standing out...maybe Cerulean blue...it's my favorite crayola color. The purples and pinks just aren't doing it for me...and I honestly had an open mind about it. I just don't like idea of butterflies and flowers...or hearts. I liked stars growing up...and sort of just want to decorate with those....
We'll see what happens.
I'm super excited about knowing she's a girl and am able to say I'm going to have a daughter. I've already started praying for our relationship....moms and girls don't always have the best rapport...but ...with God's grace, I won't live in fear of that. Everyday is a new day!!
SOOO looking forward to these next 4 months, labor and delivery and the whole kit and caboodle....
She moves around a lot right now...we are almost 22 weeks (Just shy of the 5 month mark.). She's measuring a little small they said, but everything else looks perfect. (Nothing wrong with small girls...-hehe)
We are going to MO next week for Alex's (my niece's) Graduation. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. This will be the first time that everyone except my mom will meet Emmaus. My Gma and Aunts are coming down too, and a cousin or too...so it's our mini reunion. I haven't seen the family for almost 2 years now...so this is really great timing.
So excited.
As always, thanks for reading. More belly pics soon, hopefully....
Jake preferred a girl this time (He really likes the name we picked out -WE AREN"T ANNOUNCING the name till birth...sorry folks.), and I think I did too...although, I would have been super happy with 2 boys...
Now we have one of each, and I can have a mini me too....(Doubtful really, she'll be taller than me by 10 like my niece alex was...slight exaggeratoin, but it will happen I'm certain.)
So I'm having a itch to go buy something girlie...but I'm trying to resist until I know of something we actually need....we'll see how long that lasts...
giggles.
I looked online yesterday for some girlier diaper covers, but unsatisfied with the selections. I'm not sure what colors I want to focus on....Marroon so far is the only one that is standing out...maybe Cerulean blue...it's my favorite crayola color. The purples and pinks just aren't doing it for me...and I honestly had an open mind about it. I just don't like idea of butterflies and flowers...or hearts. I liked stars growing up...and sort of just want to decorate with those....
We'll see what happens.
I'm super excited about knowing she's a girl and am able to say I'm going to have a daughter. I've already started praying for our relationship....moms and girls don't always have the best rapport...but ...with God's grace, I won't live in fear of that. Everyday is a new day!!
SOOO looking forward to these next 4 months, labor and delivery and the whole kit and caboodle....
She moves around a lot right now...we are almost 22 weeks (Just shy of the 5 month mark.). She's measuring a little small they said, but everything else looks perfect. (Nothing wrong with small girls...-hehe)
We are going to MO next week for Alex's (my niece's) Graduation. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone. This will be the first time that everyone except my mom will meet Emmaus. My Gma and Aunts are coming down too, and a cousin or too...so it's our mini reunion. I haven't seen the family for almost 2 years now...so this is really great timing.
So excited.
As always, thanks for reading. More belly pics soon, hopefully....
Thursday, April 14, 2011
sniffle sniffle, blow
The past few days/nights my nose has been stuffed up. It wakes me up a few times a night. It's not too bad, I'm thinking it's either allergies, or something to do with this crazy weather we call Spring, that won't make up it's mind.
Last night Emmaus sounded funny before we put him to bed. Not funny haha, funny....queer?...haha.
He wasn't lethargic, on the contrary him and Jake were playing this rigorous game of daddy hiding under Emmaus' favorite blanket and then Emmaus' pulling it off and daddy attacking his belly with kisses....that game went on and on and on. H was drinking a lot and then it was bedtime. Around 4 am I heard this barking cough come from his crib. I laid in bed waiting to see if any other crazy sounds would come, but it didn't. I tried to go back to sleep, but curiosity got the better of me. Armed with my cell phone, I went through the house trying to find my baby book...the one that talks about all those strange things we encounter. I found it and looked up coughing. I had a sneaky suspicion it was croup, but I wasn't sure. Alas, the bark, was croup, or allergies....hmmm..
But he's drinking a lot, and he doesn't have a fever, so we're feeling okay. The humidifier has been going for a few days in his room (at night.) so I think we are doing what we can for now....just sucks for him.
I'm at work today, but wishing I was home. Sort of sucks cause I'm trying to save my sick time for September...I feeling better now than I did an hour ago. I'm glad I'm at this job today and not up at the U.
My belly is doing good. Popping out more and more...looking cute. I'll have to get a picture taken sometime soon. Other than these cold symptoms, still not feeling "pregnant"...looking forward to the Ultra Sound May 2nd to ease that stress of making sure all is well with the baby.
Emmaus is picking up new words everyday. He said Bumbles and Jojo on Sunday (mom and dad's dog and uncle jojo...) He said something last night that was so cute, but my brain is sooo not remembering things very well these days...I'll have to ask Jake.
The semester is practically over for me at the U. My first semester back after 5 years, and now at the U not the Community College, I'm getting almost 100% in both classes (they are pretty easy, but good info.) Very proud of myself. Registered for 4 for the Summer. (That should be fun.)
Jake is taking a break from gigs after working 5 days a week for a month and a half. It's nice to have him home more often. And he's already started working outside on the garden, painting the basement, doing his man stuff. He's such a good man, if I do say so myself.
as always, thanks for reading. Not sure the point of this post other than updating you faithful readers...whoever you may be.
Last night Emmaus sounded funny before we put him to bed. Not funny haha, funny....queer?...haha.
He wasn't lethargic, on the contrary him and Jake were playing this rigorous game of daddy hiding under Emmaus' favorite blanket and then Emmaus' pulling it off and daddy attacking his belly with kisses....that game went on and on and on. H was drinking a lot and then it was bedtime. Around 4 am I heard this barking cough come from his crib. I laid in bed waiting to see if any other crazy sounds would come, but it didn't. I tried to go back to sleep, but curiosity got the better of me. Armed with my cell phone, I went through the house trying to find my baby book...the one that talks about all those strange things we encounter. I found it and looked up coughing. I had a sneaky suspicion it was croup, but I wasn't sure. Alas, the bark, was croup, or allergies....hmmm..
But he's drinking a lot, and he doesn't have a fever, so we're feeling okay. The humidifier has been going for a few days in his room (at night.) so I think we are doing what we can for now....just sucks for him.
I'm at work today, but wishing I was home. Sort of sucks cause I'm trying to save my sick time for September...I feeling better now than I did an hour ago. I'm glad I'm at this job today and not up at the U.
My belly is doing good. Popping out more and more...looking cute. I'll have to get a picture taken sometime soon. Other than these cold symptoms, still not feeling "pregnant"...looking forward to the Ultra Sound May 2nd to ease that stress of making sure all is well with the baby.
Emmaus is picking up new words everyday. He said Bumbles and Jojo on Sunday (mom and dad's dog and uncle jojo...) He said something last night that was so cute, but my brain is sooo not remembering things very well these days...I'll have to ask Jake.
The semester is practically over for me at the U. My first semester back after 5 years, and now at the U not the Community College, I'm getting almost 100% in both classes (they are pretty easy, but good info.) Very proud of myself. Registered for 4 for the Summer. (That should be fun.)
Jake is taking a break from gigs after working 5 days a week for a month and a half. It's nice to have him home more often. And he's already started working outside on the garden, painting the basement, doing his man stuff. He's such a good man, if I do say so myself.
as always, thanks for reading. Not sure the point of this post other than updating you faithful readers...whoever you may be.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Reno: 16 weeks for baby U2
Our friends Erin and Corey moved last summer to Seattle, then just a few weeks ago moved to Reno. We had planned to go visit them over Spring Break wherever they were. So Reno... it was.
We took a trip to Tahoe a few years ago with my parents. (you might remember the post.) Reno is just shy of reaching Tahoe.
This was our longest car ride with Emmaus so far. Total hours: 10. He did amazingly well. He learned how to nod his head up and down while we were driving. That was really exciting for us. On the trip he also started signing bread really clearly. And he learned how to say and sign cat. (Thanks to Larry.) Emmaus watched Finding Nemo on the drive and was captivated by it. He signs fish now too. I'm hoping to take him to the aquarium this summer.
I'm trying to remember details from the trip. Mapquest said it would take us 7.5 hours. We really wanted to take our time. It was such a relief not having to rush every stop like I am used to doing.
We stopped out to visit our friends Brook, Zac, Eli, and Justus on our way out. Such a cute family, such great friends. What a handsome baby.
Emmaus was asleep in the car while we were visiting but woke up towards the end, so he stayed awake and we pulled over again at the Salt Flats for a potty stop. And photo shoot. He loves being outside now that he has his walking/running legs. He's so cute to watch the joy spread over his face thinking he can outrun us.
From there, I can't remember exactly when we stopped, until we were in Winnemucca, NV. Nothing really eventful on the drive. I think it's a beautiful drive though. There are mountains the whole way. There was still snow on the ground too in some places. So if you ever think that you don't want to drive I-80 west cause it's boring, I'd say think again.
Emmaus finally fell asleep after we ate at Jack-in-the-Box. (I do love their tacos.) It sort of sucked though, cause my tacos are laced with grease and fat, and Jake goes and orders a nice salad with grilled chicken. and Emmaus got a mini pita pocket thing. I felt very unhealthy compared to them...at least I ordered a side salad too....smirk.
Emmaus slept, Jake drove, I rode till we got to Reno!!
None of us really had an agenda while we were there, other than being together and playing games. Check, Check.
Corey was working so Erin and Jake and Emmaus and me went out "on the town" together. We never actually went into Reno, didn't step into a casino either. We toured Virginia St. (sort of a joke, cause that's the thorougfair that we drove up and down everyday.)
We went to an antique mall (not a good idea with Emmaus, but it was still cute to see, minus the snow storm that started while we were browsing.), We went to Toy'sRUs (Emmaus' first visit there...no toys, but I did buy him these cute jeans, on sale. He had wet through his other ones...darn it, having to buy him new clothes-wink.)
Really I should skip to the highlights I guess:
Fatboys hamburgers (what a great flavor)
Jake had Pizza balls....he liked them.
Buffalo Wild WIngs. -that is some great sauce, specially the garlic one. AND you can play trivia while you are eating. That was perfect for us, games, good food, and they even had a special menu for erin that showed No Dairy Items. She was super happy about that.
We went to Aeropostale and found a jeans sale for $7.99 each! I got 2 pair. Won't beable to wear them for long, but I couldn't pass up such a good deal. The coolest store Erin and I stumbled into was called Charming Charlie. From the outside and signs you can't tell what they sell, so we wanted to check it out. When we first walked in it everything was PINK. but then as you enter the store more, they have all sorts of accessories, purses, scarves, wallets, earrings, hats....it was really schnazzy. I bought a new wallet, case for my sunglasses and a sexy dress. I'll have to take a pic for you sometime....it's daring, but I really like it.
We played Harry Potter clue (SOO much fun!) Dominion, but of course, and Settlers. They introduced us to 2 games too, one was called Dixit..fun game, like Apples to Apples but with Pictures....and Scattegories, but their version has categories. I thought this was much more fun than the original version.
I love hanging with the Stissers, not only do we like the same things, but we always have great convo's too. Like introducing Erin to Autotuning...I think that's what it's called...
We were going to drive out to Tahoe again, but with the wind and weather/snow wasn't allowing for an enjoyable time, so we'll just have to go back later this summer. You won't hear me complain about that!
Emmaus saw for the first time Robin Hood (disney) and Meet the Robinsons...such great movies. I really feel like he was getting an education more than just being set in front of the tv...if you know what I mean. His favorite thing about the trip though was Gavin and Larry.
There is a lake on the property where they are living, so we went out there to stretch our legs and give gavin a walk. It's really pretty. Windy, but really pretty.
I almost forgot, we went to a really nice Thai restaraunt. I wasn't sure what to get cause Jake and I don't eat Thai much, but I think we all enjoyed our meals. I loved the environment. Especially the chairs. I should've taken a photo, but didn't...bad me.
We got there Wednesday night and left Mid morning on Sunday.
We took a trip to Tahoe a few years ago with my parents. (you might remember the post.) Reno is just shy of reaching Tahoe.
This was our longest car ride with Emmaus so far. Total hours: 10. He did amazingly well. He learned how to nod his head up and down while we were driving. That was really exciting for us. On the trip he also started signing bread really clearly. And he learned how to say and sign cat. (Thanks to Larry.) Emmaus watched Finding Nemo on the drive and was captivated by it. He signs fish now too. I'm hoping to take him to the aquarium this summer.
I'm trying to remember details from the trip. Mapquest said it would take us 7.5 hours. We really wanted to take our time. It was such a relief not having to rush every stop like I am used to doing.
We stopped out to visit our friends Brook, Zac, Eli, and Justus on our way out. Such a cute family, such great friends. What a handsome baby.
Emmaus was asleep in the car while we were visiting but woke up towards the end, so he stayed awake and we pulled over again at the Salt Flats for a potty stop. And photo shoot. He loves being outside now that he has his walking/running legs. He's so cute to watch the joy spread over his face thinking he can outrun us.
From there, I can't remember exactly when we stopped, until we were in Winnemucca, NV. Nothing really eventful on the drive. I think it's a beautiful drive though. There are mountains the whole way. There was still snow on the ground too in some places. So if you ever think that you don't want to drive I-80 west cause it's boring, I'd say think again.
Emmaus finally fell asleep after we ate at Jack-in-the-Box. (I do love their tacos.) It sort of sucked though, cause my tacos are laced with grease and fat, and Jake goes and orders a nice salad with grilled chicken. and Emmaus got a mini pita pocket thing. I felt very unhealthy compared to them...at least I ordered a side salad too....smirk.
Emmaus slept, Jake drove, I rode till we got to Reno!!
None of us really had an agenda while we were there, other than being together and playing games. Check, Check.
Corey was working so Erin and Jake and Emmaus and me went out "on the town" together. We never actually went into Reno, didn't step into a casino either. We toured Virginia St. (sort of a joke, cause that's the thorougfair that we drove up and down everyday.)
We went to an antique mall (not a good idea with Emmaus, but it was still cute to see, minus the snow storm that started while we were browsing.), We went to Toy'sRUs (Emmaus' first visit there...no toys, but I did buy him these cute jeans, on sale. He had wet through his other ones...darn it, having to buy him new clothes-wink.)
Really I should skip to the highlights I guess:
Fatboys hamburgers (what a great flavor)
Jake had Pizza balls....he liked them.
Buffalo Wild WIngs. -that is some great sauce, specially the garlic one. AND you can play trivia while you are eating. That was perfect for us, games, good food, and they even had a special menu for erin that showed No Dairy Items. She was super happy about that.
We went to Aeropostale and found a jeans sale for $7.99 each! I got 2 pair. Won't beable to wear them for long, but I couldn't pass up such a good deal. The coolest store Erin and I stumbled into was called Charming Charlie. From the outside and signs you can't tell what they sell, so we wanted to check it out. When we first walked in it everything was PINK. but then as you enter the store more, they have all sorts of accessories, purses, scarves, wallets, earrings, hats....it was really schnazzy. I bought a new wallet, case for my sunglasses and a sexy dress. I'll have to take a pic for you sometime....it's daring, but I really like it.
We played Harry Potter clue (SOO much fun!) Dominion, but of course, and Settlers. They introduced us to 2 games too, one was called Dixit..fun game, like Apples to Apples but with Pictures....and Scattegories, but their version has categories. I thought this was much more fun than the original version.
I love hanging with the Stissers, not only do we like the same things, but we always have great convo's too. Like introducing Erin to Autotuning...I think that's what it's called...
We were going to drive out to Tahoe again, but with the wind and weather/snow wasn't allowing for an enjoyable time, so we'll just have to go back later this summer. You won't hear me complain about that!
Emmaus saw for the first time Robin Hood (disney) and Meet the Robinsons...such great movies. I really feel like he was getting an education more than just being set in front of the tv...if you know what I mean. His favorite thing about the trip though was Gavin and Larry.
There is a lake on the property where they are living, so we went out there to stretch our legs and give gavin a walk. It's really pretty. Windy, but really pretty.
I almost forgot, we went to a really nice Thai restaraunt. I wasn't sure what to get cause Jake and I don't eat Thai much, but I think we all enjoyed our meals. I loved the environment. Especially the chairs. I should've taken a photo, but didn't...bad me.
We got there Wednesday night and left Mid morning on Sunday.
Took our time driving home, Stopped at a Mexican restaraunt for dinner and made it home in 10 hours again.
Look at this face, we will definitely be taking another road trip...he loved it!
Enjoy the journey, and as always, thanks for reading!
(As per Baby U2...we have our 2nd Prenatal appointment this coming tuesday to hear the heartbeat again, then 3 weeks later we'll find out the gender! I'm almost done with the antibiotics the midwives suggested, other than my little baby bump that you can see if you look hard enough, I wouldn't even know that I was pregnant (Thank you Lord.)...cept for all the potty stops that is.) More news to follow.
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