Jennyrae

2010-08-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

2010-08-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

2010-08-19T07:07:00.000-07:00

Alex had his first day of school yesterday. He was so excited! Can't believe he's that old! K-4 is the grade he's in. Basically, kindergarten for four year olds. I drew out the K-4 on that paper the night before and handed it to him for his picture in the morning. As soon as Addison saw him with it, she ran in the kitchen and took a picture off the fridge to be like her bubs. When we dropped him off at school we were telling him bye bye and Addison stood next to Alex and said bye. She thought she was staying there with him. He wasn't nervous at all about it. He was like mom stop bugging me. I made it until I got in the car to cry. I thought maybe I'd be alright but of course I was wrong. Having kids makes you way too emotional!

When we picked him up, he couldn't wait to tell us all about his day! He just HAD to open his backpack when we got to the car to show me what was in it. Apparently wednesdays they have chapel so he was saying the singing was fun but everything else took a long time. They showed him the playground but he didn't get to play. A little cruel :) There were cool animal toys that he'll get to play with today. It was one of the girls birthdays so they had cupcakes and sang happy birthday. No wonder he had no appetite for lunch and was super hyper when he got home! He was super excited to go to school again this morning! So glad he's liking it so much!

He goes for a half day mon through fri. They have a different letter and number everyday that they learn. They have a different bible verse each week to memorize. The kids trade off days to bring a snack for the class. They bring the snack can home the night before so mommy can fill it with something and on that day they get to bring a show and tell item too. Alex is dying to take red john but I think that might be a little much for the kids. I think his mickey mouse ears from disneyland would be better.

I'm really excited for him and can't wait to see how this year goes and all he learns!

2010-06-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

These are a bunch of pics from the riverfestival and Hannah's bday. We had a lot of fun getting the cousins together. Addison is constantly talking about Hannah and pretending to talk to her on the phone. I especially like the pics of me and Addison in our pretty dresses! The cupcakes Joy made for Hannah's bday turned out so amazing! Hannah and Addison tore through them. Alex surprisingly didn't get too messy with his:) I think Alex and Addison were way more into Hannah's presents than she was! They're such stinkers!

2010-06-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

These are just a bunch of fun summer pics! This is the first time we've been out to the farm this summer and the kids had sooo much fun! It was close to 100 degrees that day so me and the kids spent most of the time in the pond. Nathan even got in for a while with us! Alex could spend the whole time in there!

We used the sprinklers that Alex got as a bday present for the first time on memorial day. Nathan cooked up some hot dogs on the grill and we ate outside. It's fun doing family things together. Nathan taught Alex how to spray people with the sprinklers and that's what Alex spent the whole rest of the time doing. LOL!

We also got a new pet. Our house is really turning into a zoo! I never thought I would want a snake but seeing how fascinated Alex was with our friends snake made me decide to go ahead with it. Nathan had snakes back before we meat. We named him Red John after a tv show that we like and he's the bad guy/murderer. We thought it was fitting because of what he'd do to all of the mice we feed him:) Alex was pretty nervous about holding him whenever we would ask him. We kind of surprised him one night when he wasn't looking and put red john on him and after that time he's always asking if he can hold him. Alex never wants to try new things!

2010-05-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

my butt imprint on the couch

Alex and his doggies Shadow and Benji

Nathan skating

Silly Addison

Before and after Dinosaur show:)

Lightning

Addison falling asleep on the floor in their room:)

2010-05-20T18:06:00.000-07:00

Well, this first pic is of Batman the baby robin we found in the backyard. He was hopping around and couldn't fly yet. Nathan was worried about him so he brought him in and was feeding him yesterday. Poor guy made it through the night but bit the dust late morning.

Nathan's dad flew out last week to help Nathan with a project. They built a new gate for the backyard. It turned out super good and you can actually open it, unlike our old one:) We had a really good time while he was out. It was good to catch up and watch some movies and eat some tasty meals! Good bonding time for the men especially:) I think Nathan learned a few things. Now he can fix our fence that is about to be blown over. lol!

We just got our tree in the front yard trimmed this morning. We've been meaning to get to it for over a year now. It looks so much better and isn't hanging on our roof anymore, which was the big problem.

Here are my marigolds. They're all blooming! Can't believe I could actually grow flowers from seeds. It's amazing! We'll see if the other flowers bloom. I think something has been chewing on them.

Addison feeding her baby with the boppy. So cute! She had watched me feeding little Ethan earlier and wanted to try it out:)

Oh, the pic of me is my highlights I did this morning.

2010-05-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

Alex's birthday was on the tenth, but I'm just now getting these pics up. Our big four year old! Mom, Dad, Jillian, and Josh came out on the ninth to celebrate Alex's bday, mother's day, and Dad's bday. We had a really good time. I made a batch of Monna's(Nathan's grandma) turkey tacos. Super yummy! We gave him his big birthday present, his bike, on that day. The picture of him looking at it was the first time he saw it:) Grandma and Pappa gave him the Cars cars box.

We wanted to make his actual birthday special too so we planned a few things for the next day. Alex and I went out to Dillons so he could pick out the stuff to make and decorate his cake with. I had him help out and he told me later that that was his favorite part of his birthday. After that, I took him out to see his first movie How to Train your Dragon. He was so cute with his popcorn and drink and he was soooo into the movie. Then, we went and got him a happy meal and he blew out the candles on his cake and then opened other presents. I think it was a good day. Can't believe it's been four years!

2010-04-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

Here was our recent trip to the zoo! We went with Emily, Ethan, and Nicole. It was a perfect day, weather was nice and kids behaved themselves. We usually start at one side and work around to the other side. Usually by the time we get to the other side we're tired and skip things. So, it worked out well to start on the opposite side that way the things we got to spend more time looking at the things we're usually too tired to look at :)

2010-04-22T07:10:00.000-07:00

Had to post about some of the things I've gotten excited about lately! First off is the jacket that I was telling you about Joanne. I've tried on jackets like this all fall and winter and I'm so glad I waited because I got it on clearance for 12 bucks!

I decided that this year I want my front yard to look a little cuter so I am attempting to grow flowers. I've never ever done this before and I can't keep anything alive, so I'd say it's going pretty good. You can see all the little green things sprouting up in the flower bed and my bike pot. Nathan's dad's wife, Donna, bought me the bike among a few other things for my bday out in Cali at a new fav store of mine, Didi's. Too bad the closest one is in Dallas:( I have a thing for turtles and other little creatures. I am super excited about my mommy turtle and her two baby turtles. Just like me:) Then I have the snail wind chime I just got yesterday at dollar general. Who knew they could have such cute things! Oh and you can see my flower steaks (stakes, lol) in one of the pics:)

Anyway, this last week Nathan's been gone in Texas doing recurrent training in the Phenom so I decided to tackle a few projects I put on my list of goals for the year. I painted the ceiling in the kitchen and our bedroom. The kitchen ceiling just looked like it hadn't gotten a good paint job in forever and looked kinda dirty. Our bedroom had old water damage from before we bought the place. Then, I also painted the walls in our bedroom a nice light tan color. I wanted this to be kind of a surprise for Nathan, so I didn't tell him about it. I did it mainly during nap time and it turned out really nice! Then, I wanted to rearrange it. So, being the weakling that I am, I had to pull everything out of our dresser and my vanity to be able to move the stinkin things, but I was able to do it. I really like how it turned out though and Nathan liked the surprise! Now, I just need to figure out where I want to hang things up again.

2010-03-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Nathan and I got to have a weekend getaway this last weekend. We dropped the kids off at my parent's house and went to KC. The first couple pics are of the second hotel we stayed at. The last few are of the first. We stayed at a hotel right by the plaza and walked over and looked at shops and had dinner later on. It was a lot of fun. The first hotel room was hilarious because we had not only a separate seating and living area from our bedroom part, but a room with this giant table with chairs all around it and a dry erase board on the wall. We called it our meeting room. The last couple were us being silly with the robe. Me doing my trying to be sexy pose that always ends up looking scary and then Nathan being the karate kid:)

The second day we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then went over to the oakpark mall. We got some super yummy panda express. I broke out of my shell and got string beans and chicken when we always have orange chicken. It was sooo good! Anyway, then we went over to our other hotel. It was super fancy and I wished I would have taken more pictures. It was a Hilton and in an older building that had incredible floors and ceilings and chandeliers! That night we had dinner and went over to the power and light district right outside of our hotel. We had a couple drinks at Howl at the Moon. It was super cool. They had two pianos and the players played requests all night long and were amazing! That has got to be a cool job! About nine ish when we left there were the pianos and two guitars and drums going too. It was just a little too late for us.

The next day we had a super yummy breakfast at the hotel and then headed to get the kids. Man did we miss them! Then, we dropped them off at a friends house when we got back to Wichita so we could go to the winter jam concert at the arena. It was awesome! I was so excited to get to see the Newsboys that Nathan and I grew up with! There were also third day, fireflight, tenth avenue north, and newsong.

It was a super fun packed weekend!

2010-03-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

I just had to post this picture of my little mess. She is so completely different than her brother! You really have to keep your eye on her!

2010-02-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well here was Valentine's day at Nathan's mom's house. We had so much fun! We had a white elephant gift exchange which was too funny. We gave a bag of mild taco bell sauce we'd been stocking up on. Nathan got a white elephant from his uncle. There was also a goofy looking santa clause nicknamed pampooti that apparently shows up during every white elephant gift exchange. It was really nice to catch up with family again! I really like the picture of Nathan and Mike playing video games like when they were kids:)

2010-02-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Well, here is Disneyland. We have a ton more pictures! Half of them are on the laptop, so I'll need to get them off of there at some point. We had an awesome vacation out to California to visit Nathan's family! The kids were absolutely amazing on the drives. I was shocked! Hopefully I'll get around to posting more pics soon.

2009-12-30T17:59:00.000-08:00

Here are finally some pictures from Addison's first birthday! They aren't in any order but obviously you can tell that first we made the cupcakes, then Addison sucked on the spatula, and then we ate them. :)

Mom and Dad came out for Addison's birthday and we started by opening the presents. Then, mom and I went out to the mall to do a little shopping. We met the guys a little later to get some dinner out. Mom and Dad left after that since it was pretty late and they still had to drive for an hour and a half. We went home and sang to Addison and watched her make a huge mess with a cupcake. I let Alex put the icing on his and decorate it. He thought that was extra special. Also, Nathan's mom sent a little something for Alex from Nathan's uncle. It was good thinking to include Alex so he wouldn't get jealous with Addison opening all of her presents!

The first picture is a few days later with Addison in the outfit from mom and dad and holding the baby doll they gave her. I tried to post the video of Addison devouring the cupcake but it wouldn't work for some reason :( Too bad!

Oh, also, Nathan's mom sent Addison the little purple bear blanket. We switched that out for Addison's burp cloths and she loves the thing. We call it her blanky bear and she carries it around everywhere. We came up with the goofy name because little Emily that I watch has a sleepy square that is a pretty similar idea.

2009-12-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

This is our goofy Addison and maybe goofier mother. Addison is a major major thumb sucker and if she has a burp cloth in hand she is sucking her thumb. We always have at least two burp cloths laying around somewhere and this day she honestly was walking around with three before I decided to film her.

2009-12-05T19:04:00.000-08:00

This bottom picture is from when Emily stayed with us for a week when her mommy, daddy, and sister went to disney world. Honestly it was not too much extra work. I do all of the same things with the other kids anyway and she is a very easy little girl to take care of.

It's so fun to watch our little kiddos becoming such good friends! They are always playing together and Alex is so sweet to his baby sister.

On a side note, my Christmas present is supposed to be here next week and I'm so excited! Nathan got me a Cannon powershot. I think that's what it's called. Our camera has been having a lot of issues. Mainly that the lense won't close anymore and it doesn't focus very well anymore. A lot of pictures we just took on our christmas tree outing didn't turn out too well. (We did get some really good ones though and I'll post those soon, hopefully.) Since it's more of a thing we use as a family I didn't think we should get it in any girly colors. Nathan went ahead and ordered it in this really pretty blue color though. It is the same color as this super cute purse Jillian and I just saw when shopping. He said that if he can use my girly green laptop in public then he can use a girly blue camera. :)

2009-11-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

I know, two posts in one day! Crazy huh!? Well, I've promised a few people some video of Addison walking. Apparently it was dark in the livingroom. Sorry! She walks so well now. She's not really doing a lot of falling. I think she was just getting excited in the video. I finally cut Alex's hair tonight and had to post the pics of his mohawk I gave him afterward. He doesn't like it at all! He keeps saying put my hair down while he squishes it with his hand.

2009-11-06T06:28:00.000-08:00

These are our Halloween pics! We got some good ones. Alex had so much fun trick or treating! He went up to a bunch of houses on his own. He said trick or treat and thank you every time! It was fun watching him get so excited. You could tell his bucket was getting heavy and he was getting tired but everytime we asked him if we could carry it he said no. LOL! We also got a good family pic before church on Sunday!

Okay Joy, I've been trying to think about what I want for christmas. It gets harder as you get older and buy pretty much whatever you really want. I was thinking I'd like a comfy jacket. Something casual, maybe sporty. Could be fleece or whatever. Maybe a maroon or navy blue or green? Probably a medium unless it looks huge then get small. Another easier thought would be a Victoria's Secret gift card. Since I've stopped nursing I'm in need of some better you know whats. Either one would be a great gift and I'd always be open for something home made or if you come up with a better idea.

I'm going to try and remember to get some video of Addison walking today. Hopefully I'll post it soon!

2009-11-02T06:31:00.000-08:00

Okay, I know I'm getting really bad at blogging. I'll try to do some real blogging later today. Thought I should get the list for Christmas out there. The deal this year is the same as last year. Everybody gets one person and the kids are there for everybody to buy for if they choose to. We drew names out of a bucket yesterday at mom and dad's so no one can accuse me of matching people up this year. lol! Guys drew for guys and girls for girls. Here it is:

gifter- reciever

Jeremy- Nathan

Dad- Jason

Jason- Dad

Josh- Jeremy

Nathan- Josh

Joy- Jenny

Jenny- Joanne

Joanne- Jilli

Jilli- Mom

Mom- Joy

I think the amount last year was thirty? Does everybody think that works again? More or less? I'll be thinking about what I want Joy. I'm going to try to get my Christmas shopping done before December. We'll see if I make it! I'm guessing Joanne is going to make up an amazon wish list again? As far as my kids go for gifts. Alex is easy to buy for, but clothes are also appreciated for both of them :) Alex is wearing 3T in everything. I like the adjustable waist for pants for my skinny boy. Addison will be getting into 12 month and is starting to run out of clothes that were given to us. I have a hard time buying clothes for her when she'll grow out of them so fast! Also, Addison doesn't have very many toys of her own. I don't even know if she would play with them if she had them though. She loves anything that belongs to her big bubs!

2009-10-06T12:55:00.000-07:00

I found this when I was looking for pics of the kids! Couldn't help but post it. Alex thought it was Addison. I had to tell him it was him a few times before it stuck.

I just realized that all the recent pics we've taken are on the laptop. Guess I'll have to post more sometime when N-dog is home:)

2009-08-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

2009-06-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well it's been forever since the last post I made! We've been super busy! There are a couple pics of the kids when Joanne and Jeremy made it out for the riverfestival. Alex is being stubborn in the one with all of the kids on the floor. That's normal for him. He doesn't like getting his picture taken. I was surprised he actually posed for a few. I love the bath one of Alex and Addison! They have so much fun in the bath together. I got a whole bunch more pictures but they probably aren't appropriate to post on the blog. Alex and Addison have been playing in their room a lot lately. It usually ends with Addison crying because she got either stuck under Alex's bed or the dresser. It's sooo funny! I put her in the cute turquoise pants and onesie outfit today that Nathan's mom, Julie, got for us when we were pregnant with Alex. We hadn't found out yet what we were having and she gave us an outfit for a boy and an outfit for a girl. She looks really good in those colors!

We had Addison's six month check up on friday. It went really well. I was expecting it to be good since nothing's really going on with her. She is 15 lbs and 13 oz. and 26 in long. She's in the 41% for weight, 55% for height, and 80% for head. Which means her weight and height percents have flipped and her head is still big. My babys have big heads! I was kind of expecting her height and weight to flip at some point. Hopefully we won't be having weight trouble with her in a few months like we did with Alex. She's scooting around on the floor a lot and almost sitting up on her own. She's been getting a lot happier now that she can entertain herself a little bit.

Alex has been pretty funny lately. He's started saying all kinds of funny things. When he thinks Emily or Poky are doing something naughty he says shame on you. That's something daddy tells Alex if he's naughty. When Addison is doing something he doesn't like he tells her knock it off. He's also a lot more into his little sister which is both good and bad. He loves playing with her and she loves Alex. He does play a little rough sometimes though. Yesterday he tried to stomp on her hand and thankfully missed. Today he gave her a cheerio. Thankfully he came and told me he gave Addison cereal. I ran in and it was sitting on her lips and hadn't made it in her mouth yet. Scary! Sometimes he thinks he's doing something nice and doesn't realize it could hurt her. They are super cute when they play together though. Addison totally adores her big brother!

2009-05-24T07:14:00.000-07:00

So I think I need an update since the last post. We had Alex's doc appointment on friday and it went pretty well. He's doing fine with his weight which was a big relief! He's in the 15% for height and 4 1/2% for weight. The doc was nice and added the half! LOL! She said that if there were any growth abnormalities they usually show up by three so it looks like he's just small. Whew! The funny thing was when they had him undress to his undies. He really didn't want to do that! Then after that he just sat there pouting and wouldn't talk. All he would say was no. The doc said that this kind of action she sees more in boys at this age. She noticed his goofy tic right away. Sometimes if he feels uncomfortable or things just aren't like they normally are he blinks his eyes a lot. She just commented on it and made it seem kind of normal and moved on. That made me feel good! Next we talked about his development and he seems to be doing good. The only thing she seemed a little concerned with was his speech. He knows exactly what he's trying to say but sometimes he just can't form the words right. He actually just recently started trying a lot more! I'll sound words out and he'll repeat me. He used to not do that at all. She gave us a number of some people we could call to get an evaluation to see if he needs speech therapy. She said that the main thing is that he'll probably start to get really frustrated when people can't understand him. So, Nathan and I will talk about this at some point and decide what to do. We'll see. It couldn't hurt anything.

The other thing that's pretty exciting is that Alex pooped in the big potty for the first time! Yeah! He's been pretty much potty trained in the other area for a while now but we just couldn't get him to not poop his pants. He would always do it during nap time when he had his diaper on which wasn't too bad cause it's not a big mess. I've got him up halfway through his nap a few times and put him on the potty but he still wouldn't and as soon as he's back in his room he would do it. So, I put him on the potty a couple days ago and left him there for like a half hour. Finally, when I was on the phone with my mom, he yells me poop big potty! I was so excited! We went to Wally World later that day and bought him a car. He went in the big potty again yesterday too! Hopefully we'll be good now and he could officially be potty trained!

2009-05-20T05:20:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd write a little bit about what's been going on here with the kiddos. They are totally sleeping in the same room now! It was a super easy transition! I didn't think I could handle not getting my nap time break in the middle of the day. Keeping Alex up and having Addison sleeping in his room just wasn't working for me. So, I tried putting Addison in there with Alex for nap. She almost does better in there. It's like she likes sleeping in his room and he likes having her in there! I was shocked! Alex doesn't really want a whole lot to do with her but he wants her to sleep in his room. LOL! He still doesn't sleep a whole lot when he's in his room for nap time but it doesn't seem to bother Addison. We tell him to be quiet when she's in there and she sleeps right through him playing.

This last Sunday Nathan had off so we decided to go out to the farm and meet up with mom, dad, and Jilli. It was a lot of fun! Alex is getting really good with his fishing pole. I put sunscreen on me and both the kiddos and they were perfectly fine but I got burnt! I put it on myself and I guess couldn't reach very far on my back. So, I have a goofy half burnt back with finger outlines. Mom and Jilli also got burned super bad! glad I put a lot of suncreen on the kids! Oh ya, I can't forget to mention our little cannibal baby. Addison likes to chew on anything and everything right now. I would be holding her standing up and all she would want to do is chew on my shoulder and neck. When I passed her off to Jillian she did the same thing to her. Feels really funny! After the Johnsons left to go to a graduation party, we Mercys fished a while longer. I wish we could have gotten a picture cause I think it would have been pretty cute. We were all standing on the dock fishing. Nathan took Addison for me in the baby carrier so I could fish too. We were pulling fish out one after another! That was fun! I even took a fish off my own hook! We also got a bite on plankton on the end of Alex's fishing pole! I was playing around with it casting it out and a fish was really pulling on it and came out of the water with it but let go way before I got it out. It was so shocking and really funny!

We have Alex's 3 yr checkup the end of this week. I'm kind of nervous because I've gotten such a hard time from them before for being underweight. Anyway, I'd appreciate prayer that they won't give me a hard time about him being small and that he's at a healthy weight.

Alex's 3rd bday and Mom's day

2009-05-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a really good mom's day and Alex's bday so far! We got some awesome pics too! Addison woke up around 7:30, which is a little early for her but not bad. I went in and fed her and Nathan said to come back into bed after I was done. I got to sleep a while longer while Nathan got up with the kids and made us breakfast! It's so nice to get treated like that every once in a while. I got to wake up and eat french toast, eggs, and tasty java! Then, we got all showered and dressed so we'd be presentable for pictures. Nathan had me open a card and bag with milka chocolate and some other tasty candy. I've got a major sweet tooth all of a sudden! Then, he sent me on a scavenger hunt for my other present. He put post its all over the house saying go look here and under here until I finally found my robe and shorts he got me. I specifically told him I wanted a robe for mom's day. He knows me pretty well. Usually anything pink works for me! lol! Alex got to open a card from nanna and he's been talking about how he's going to use his dollars to buy toys. He also thought it was a lot of fun to open all of the presents JJHA sent. We've played the memory game a few times and he's starting to catch on. He loves the spongebob book and the shirt with "Lightning" on it. It has Teridactals on it and says I'm so fly. haha! He thinks they're birds like lightning. We hid his trike under a blanket in the corner. It was pretty funny when I asked him to bring me my blanky and he found it underneath. He doesn't quite have the pedalling thing down yet but I'm sure that'll come with time.

Addison has decided all of a sudden that she likes Nathan! I'm loving it! He held her so much yesterday and was perfectly happy. She would even watch him walk around the room and smile at him a bunch. It's really cute and makes it a lot easier on me. I can actually get things done around here. She's been eating applesauce a couple times a day and is starting to get a lot better at it. She's been sleeping through the night and taking a nice nap during the day. I'm thinking about moving her into Alex's room now. I'm having her take her nap in there today and having Alex stay up just to test it out. He doesn't really need a nap anymore and I don't think he sleeps all that much when he's in his room. We'll see if I can handle this though. I'm thinking that by six months Addison will be scooting around the house and sitting up pretty well. She's started to put her arms out on the floor in front of her to balance herself when sitting up. When she's laying on her belly she started to pull her knees up underneath her but she just can't quite figure out how to lift her top part off the ground at the same time. She'll look at a toy and you can tell she's trying to get to it. She'll push her feet against the floor to try to scoot but she's just not there yet. She's gotten a lot easier for me since she's been playing with toys and rolling all around. She's still teething like crazy but the only swolen places on her gums are still her molars. We'll see when those front teeth come through. She's also started sucking her thumb and doesn't use her pacifier that much anymore. We got her a teething pacifier and she choose that thing like crazy. It's just right for her to hold and she goes to town on that thing!

So, I've never been much of a baker. I've never really liked to bake but lately I've been baking a lot! I think my sweet tooth is partly to blame. I've never really been into sweet things. Whenever I crave something it's always burgers or fries or something. Now it's totally chocolate! Especially chocolate mint! Joanne gave me this awesome mint brownie recipe that I love! I've made this white chocolate raspberry cheesecake twice now. It's soooo good and Nathan is a major fan of cheesecakes! When he was single he actually made some. He had a springform pan and everything! Last night I baked my mom's chocolate chip cookies. They are sooo good and the recipe makes a ton. I've changed the recipe slightly as well by accident one day and like it so much that way that that's just how I make it now. I had hardly any vanilla left and had a bunch of almond extract sitting around so I substituted a couple teaspoons with the almond. Nathan and I really like them this way and I'm thinking the next time I make them I'll do almonds instead of walnuts. mmmmm! Oh, one reason I think I'm into sweet stuff lately is because it's always made me break out in the past. Anything and everything sweet that I'd eat would make me break out the very next day. Nathan kept telling me that I'd grow out of it. I think I finally have and I love it! It sucks always having to worry about what you eat!

Oh, I've also been really into eggs lately! Weird huh?! I make them every which way. Boiled, scrambled, omelet, fried on toast, fried with pepperjack cheese. Got the last two ideas from my mom. All of the protein really gives me the energy I need to get throught the day. I love eggs! From my head down to my legs!

2009-04-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

2009-04-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

2009-04-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few cute pics of Addison and some pics of the new jet Nathan is flying!

2009-04-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

The goober throwing snowballs at aunt Jilli!

2009-04-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Here's my cutie running around the back yard!

2009-04-02T12:20:00.000-07:00

2009-04-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

2009-03-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I can't post any pictures right now because we had to ship the laptop off to get fixed. Something inside isn't working right and it's not charging.

I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to take Nathan to the airport. He called me from the Dillons parking lot after he had gotten gas and his truck wouldn't start. He's been having trouble with this for a while now but he's always gotten it to start after just a couple tries. We were just waiting for this to happen. He got it started after almost giving up and drove it home just after I got the kids in the car. We figured we wouldn't chance it breaking down on him so I drove him anyway. Well he drove there while I slept in the passenger seat and I drove home. LOL! That truck has given us way too many problems.

Anyway, Addison has been doing some new things. She's reaching and grabbing at things. She likes to lay on her play mat which has all kinds of toys dangling from the top. I put a teething toy on that and she likes to pull that into her mouth and suck on it. It's so cute to see her reach for things but not quite sure how to work her hands. I've also put her in the excersaucer already because she loves to stand just like Alex did. She does the same thing and reaches for things but can't quite figure out what to do with them. She can also roll on her side from laying on her back. I've been having her sleep on the guest bed but we really need to get the crib in the office because she's going to be rolling around soon. She had been sleeping through the night for about a week. Then, all of a sudden she was waking up twice a night. Now she's waking up once a night, which I can handle a lot better.

Alex has been doing really good with his potty training. He tells us now every time he needs to go pee pee. He can't seem to get number two down but I hear that takes a little more time. It just seemed to click for him one day and since then he's been doing awesome. It seemed to happen pretty soon after we had him going standing up like a big boy. We give him "dollars" whenever he goes. That's what he calls any kind of money. He usually asks specifically for pennys though which is fine with me. Then he runs and puts them in his "fast jet" piggy bank.

We've been going on walks a lot lately! Nathan all of a sudden got into all of this hiking, camping, survival stuff. I'm glad that it's something fun that I enjoy too and it's cheap since we have about everything you would need. I wish we had cool places to hike out here like Joanne and Jeremy do but we've been looking around at neat places to walk. We just discovered the Sedgewick county park which is huge and has lots of trails and play equipment. We were planning on camping out at my dad's farm for a trial run before we tried somewhere else but it was crazy windy the day we were going to go. We've been finding new routes around our neighborhood and walking farther to go get ice cream at different places. Wish we had a Bogeys! The kids really like it too! Addison seems to dig being outside just like Alex did! I've lost a couple more pounds too not even trying. LOL!

Nathan is going to be gone in Texas for today and tomorrow and then he's going to go out to St. Thomas over the weekend. He's not going to be out on the island for long enough to take good pictures though. :( I'm going to miss him but at least it's not for too long and I get to see him in between trips.

2009-03-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of our little Addison talking! She's a babbler! She goes on and on!

2009-03-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

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Hopefully this works! I wanted to post a video of Addison rolling over. She had done it a few times by the time I took the video and was starting to get a little mad.

2009-02-28T17:26:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post some new pics of the girl and my new haircut! The first couple are Emily the baby that I watch. She's grown and changed so much. Addison has already changed a ton too! I love my new haircut! I was getting kinda tired of the long hair and decided to chop it all off. Nathan loves it! He'd been begging me a while to cut it short like when we first met. It's so easy to do! It takes like two minutes to dry and then I throw some stuff in it and it's all done! No clips or flat irons!

2009-02-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

Thought I should post a little bit about what's been going on with Addison. We went to her 2 month check up and ran into a couple problems. First off she was still jaundiced and second she has a slight head tilt problem.

They had me formula feed over the weekend to make sure it was just breastmilk jaundice. Which it was! That wasn't that big of a deal other than all the stress going along with it. I hate bottle feeding! You have to deal with washing bottles constantly and pumping constantly and feeding in between. And, like Alex, she doesn't do well eating from a bottle. She was finally starting to get the hang of it by sunday night. I'm just glad she only wakes up once at night! When we went in on monday her levels had dropped and we were so happy about that.

The head tilt is called tortecollis. I had noticed it before and was going to ask the doc about it but then she brought it up first. It's pretty common I guess. It's that the neck muscles on the one side are tight. It can cause problems later on like their head not being symmetrical and their eye to be lower on the one side. They said it's better that we caught it early and it'll be quicker to treat this way. We had a physical therapy session today and hers doesn't seem very severe. They showed me a bunch of things to do with her to stretch out those muscles and fix the problem. She loved it too. They had her laying on a mat and she totally dug all the things they were doing with her. She was happy all the time except when they were doing things she didn't like. She even started falling asleep at the end all by herself laying flat on her back on the mat. It was pretty cute! They were very impressed by how strong she is and how much she was talking. She can push herself up on her hands and was even trying to work her knees under her. They said they'd call in a couple weeks for a follow up appointment to see where to go from there. I think they're kind of hoping that it'll just get better with time and strength that she builds in her neck.

2009-01-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post some super cute pics we've taken recently. We went to the park yesterday and Alex had a blast playing. Then last night we had some smores. That's where the really yucky marshmallow mouth pic comes from.

2009-01-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

So I finally have the laptop back and can post a few pics. Some of my favs are the last one where Alex is holding Addison and the close up of her face when she's on the uv bed.

It's been such a whirlwind since we had Addison. There was all the jaundice drama, Christmas, Grandma passing away, and then Nathan heading off to Dallas to start training. The jaundice took forever to go away and you can tell she has a little still lingering. Her face has a little yellow in it still. Her doc says that now it's breastmilk jaundice and unless you interrupt it with formula for a day it'll just take a little while to go away. She hasn't gotten any worse though so it's not a big issue anymore. She's been doing really well at night. She was getting up three times a night, then it went down to two, and now it's down to once around three or four in the morning. Not too bad! Nicole, the mother of Emily that I watch, said she had been reading that if they eat a lot during the day they should start sleeping through the night earlier. So, I just feed and feed and feed all day long. Every two hours and sometimes even less than that. She loves to eat too so it's not too hard to do that. She's pretty easy for the most part. She's usually very happy in the morning. If she gets grumpy at all I bounce her in the bouncy chair or carry her around in the sling while doing chores. She usually calms right down. At night she gets pretty grumpy right before bed and we can't do anything to console her. So, every night lately we've been laying her down and she cries herself to sleep. At first it was a little hard to deal with but it's almost like she knows the routine now. Last night it didn't take hardly any time for her to fall asleep like that.

I'm so glad Nathan is back home now! When he left I was really upset but the week flew by. I tried to keep myself really busy so I wouldn't think about it as much and time would go by faster. So, on Monday I had a friend over and we rented the women and got a pizza. Tuesday, we left early in the morning and went to Salina. We left on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday, Karen came over and hung out with me. The boys had a lot of fun playing! Friday, Nicole came over for a while in the morning and Nathan got home that night. Nathan was supposed to go to Brazil on wednesday but they ended up being able to do all their training in Dallas. So, I get a little over a week with him and then he leaves again. I'm glad to be able to have him home for a while before he's gone. We're going to spend a week in Salina when Nathan's gone so that'll be fun.

It's was fun for Nicole to come over on Friday. She brought Emily and I was shocked by how much she had changed. It was sad that I've missed all this time with her. They've also had a lot of problems with other sitters which I can't imagine because she was always such a good baby for me. She sits up all on her own now and picks up cereal all by herself. She's so much bigger and holds her own bottle! I'm really looking forward to watching her again! My first day is the fourth. Nicole's gotten her on the same sleep schedule as Alex so that'll be really nice. It'll be fun for Alex to have her to play with too!

2008-12-14T13:04:00.000-08:00

Well, the pics totally turned out in the wrong order! I thought it would upload them in a certain order and it did it the opposite of what I thought. Nathan and I played skipbo for most of the laboring process. LOL!

We got to the hospital at eight on wednesday morning. They gave me the pitocin probably around nine. I was already dialated about 3-4 when we got there and having contractions here and there. I think that helped speed me up a lot. My doc had them break my water around ten and we sat at that for a couple hours. I asked for the epidural when the pain was just starting to get a little bad. I was pretty comfortable for probably a half hour and then it started to get really painful. I figured they had put it in a blood vessel like they did with Alex and it wasn't working. I went from 5-10 in 45 minutes and the medicine couldn't keep up with how fast I was progressing. They ended up giving me the strongest stuff they had. They said that's what they give women who are getting c-sections. After that I was completely numb and super comfortable. My doc was over at this surgery place doing procedures and wasn't ready to come over yet so she had them turn the pitocin way down since I was ready to go right then. An hour later she showed up and I pushed through two contractions and she was out. It was probably a total of around six or less pushes. It was so easy compared to Alex. Nothing tore or anything.

Addison Whitney was born at 3:07. She was 7lbs 9oz and 20 inches long.

The whole recovery process was super easy too! I was ready to leave the next morning. I was just on ibuprofen when I was on that and percocet with Alex. I was just a little bit sore. I was up and around right away and after I took my shower I felt even better. Addison did awesome! She took to nursing so well! She is the best little eater. She wouldn't sleep in the basinet at all but slept awesome in bed with me and that's how we're still doing it.

Of course, just like Alex, she has jaundice pretty bad like Alex. I expected it this time so it wasn't a big shock or as traumatic for us. She's hooked up to a billy rubin blanket like Alex was. I just want to be able to carry her around wherever I go and not be hooked to that stupid machine. At least we get to hold her though. With how good she's been eating I'm pretty hopeful that she'll be getting better soon.

2008-12-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

We had the amniocentesis done today and it went good. I was pretty nervous about getting this long needle shoved in my belly. The hardest part was that everything took so long. It was ridiculous! They required us to get there 30 min before to fill out paper work. It took me five min to fill it out. Then, the sono took forever because she was so squirmy that it took the tech forever to get good pics. Then, we had a break for lunch. When we came back we had to show up 15 min ahead and then everything took forever from there too. The actual amnio took only a few seconds. It didn't hurt bad at all. Just a tiny little stick and a little pressure. Afterward I felt like I was going to pass out just cause that's how I am. I do it after getting shots and getting my blood drawn too. I had a little bit of cramping but it went away fairly quickly too. The other part that drove me crazy was dropping off the amnio fluid. They told us to just go over to the hospital and drop it off at this one place. We didn't realize we'd be there for over an hour! We had to wait for forever then fill out all kinds of stuff. It didn't help that it seemed like no one knew what they were doing.

Anyway, the doc called us fairly quickly after that and said the lungs were mature! So thankful! So, we're going in at 8 in the morning for the induction. I'm way excited to meet our little girl tomorrow!

2008-12-03T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here are the sono pics of Addison! Super cute huh!?

2008-12-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

Thought I would post all the info on our doctor's appointment today. It was a big one! Maybe I can get Nathan to scan some pictures into the computer later to post. We had our normal visit which included the strep test and then our sonogram following. I was kind of nervous about the sonogram being after because that meant I would have to time my water drinking just right. I did what I always do. I drink my 16 oz 45 minutes ahead of time and it was just right even though the sono ended up being a little later than planned.

The first appointment went good. The doc says I'm 2 centimeters dilated and my cervix has thinned. Baby is head down and has dropped which I noticed on Sunday. I go in next week for a little check up on tuesday to see if my cervix has thinned and if I've dilated anymore. Then Wednesday I have the amniocentesis. Depending on my appointment on tuesday they'll either induce that day or the next morning. Everything looks pretty on track with the original plan so I'm very happy.

The sonogram was the fun part. They said she's definitely a girl again which we were very happy about. She's around seven pounds. So if we would've gone full term we probably would've had a nine pound baby or even bigger. They did the 3D sonogram and Nathan said it's almost like cheating cause you can really see what your baby looks like. It was way cool. It looks like she has chubby little cheeks and maybe Nathan's nose. She was sucking her thumb through most of it and at one point you could see her open her mouth and stick her tongue out. We asked if they could tell if she had hair yet and she showed us where it was. It looks like just a little bit so we might have another blondy. I guess we'll have to wait for that one. She looks healthy and everything's where it's supposed to be. I can't wait to see her on the outside!

Since there's no telling when Grandma is going to pass away Mom and Dad suggested we find a back up plan for Alex. I told Nathan mom had suggested Julie (Nathan's mom) come out and he jumped right on that idea. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that earlier. It was pretty funny when Nathan called her she was just getting on the computer to look up plane tickets. So, it's not settled yet but it looks like she'll probably come out monday and stay till friday. It would be really nice to have her be able to be here for everything too.

I have to mention what happened on Sunday. Nathan was driving back from a trip in Dallas. I started having a few little contractions here and there. It was more like cramping than anything else and nothing regular. In the hour that those started was when I noticed she had dropped. I really thought I was going to be going into labor! I talked to my mom and kind of warned her that they might get a call during the night saying we're going into the hospital. She said that her labor with Joy was 3 hours from beginning to end! Scary! Then I decided to tell Nathan cause he was thinking about stopping at a hotel for the night. Well, it ended up slowing down and stopping and I was kind of dissapointed. I feel so ready with this one! I was really hoping I could go into labor on my own. There's still time but it probably won't happen. At least we have a timeline for everything now. I'm really excited about this next week!

A whole lot of pictures!

2008-11-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally getting some pictures posted! We've got some from last night at our friend's Jason and Nicole's house. They have a tractor that Jason's been dying to take Alex for a ride on. They are the parents of the baby I watch. Too bad Nicole's turned away in the one picture we got of her. We had a really good evening. We went over to have some desert, get a tractor ride, and finally see where they live. They had their house built and since Jason does a lot of carpentry work he did most of the work on the inside himself which apparently saved them a lot of money. Man their house is nice! We had a really good time. Jason is a mechanic at Cessna and has his private pilot's license so Nathan and him had a lot to talk about. Nicole and I can always talk for hours. She was really nice and sent us home with a bunch of onesies and says she has even more clothes she's going to give us. That'll be nice!

I got a picture of the belly in there too. It was about a week or so ago when Nathan's bro was here. It made me feel pretty good because I look skinny everywhere but the belly. I have my double chin in place now though.

Last we have a bunch of pics from when Nathan's brother was in town. Mike and Alex had a lot of fun playing together! The park was definitely one of my favorite outings! Alex had so much fun and the play equipment there was really cool. I like the one of Nathan on that weird one where you stand and hang onto those bars. It looks like some kind of excersize equipment.

Nathan and I are going on a date tonight to celebrate his big promotion. I'm excited! He's been training in the other jet all day today so I think he'll be ready to relax too.

2008-11-22T09:19:00.000-08:00

Nathan's in Denver right now and has my laptop with all the pictures so I don't have any of those to post right now. I do have some exciting news though. Nathan got called into the office yesterday for a meeting with his boss. Man, were we nervous! With the way the economy is right now all of the aviation businesses in town are laying off hundreds of people. We didn't think that would happen to Nathan because he's been hearing so much good feed back from all of his bosses, but you never know. Well, anyway, they told him that they chose him and this other guy out of everyone in the company to go to school to fly the new jets they're getting. They will be getting a bunch and there will be a lot more pilots in the future but they chose Nathan to be the first! They really like him at his new job! He's only been there for like six months now and he's already getting such a big promotion! I'm so glad he's finally getting some recognition for how hard he works! I just knew that everyone would love him right off the bat and he would be good at this new place. God's plan always seems to be so much better than what we can come up with! I think I've said this before because it's been so true so many times!

There are going to be a few down sides to this. He'll be going to Dallas for most of January for training. They told him to plan on being gone a lot the first few months. So, that's going to be pretty hard on us with the new baby and all. But, I'm going to try really hard not to complain too much. This is something that Nathan has wanted for so long and I've really wanted it for him too. I knew when I married a pilot that this would probably be how our life would be. It really makes us enjoy our time together a lot more!

Another plus is that Nathan will be getting a nice raise in April which is something we could really use. When he took this job he took a little bit of a pay cut. We didn't take into account all the extra days Nathan got payed for at his other job as well. I think our plan right now is to pay off a loan we have with our tax return money and then pay off some other smaller things. Then, we will probably start looking for a little bigger house in a year or so. I have a few things that I want for our next house. Number one is a basement! I don't like feeling nervous during storm season. Two is another bathroom. Three is an already finished kitchen. We'll see how things go. We'll of course make sure we have our house sold before looking. I've heard of too many people who get stuck with two mortgage payments! Scary!

I think you can tell I'm pretty proud of my hubby!

2008-11-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Karen came out to visit on monday and I got a few good pics of the boys playing together. They were fighting over Alex's car in the beginning but then Alex gave up and hopped on the back. It was super cute! We went to the mall and did some shopping and chinese food eating and then came back home to chat and let the boys hang out more. It's fun when your friends are in the same stage of life as you are. Having kids and all. I'm so glad Karen lives closer now! It's nice that our boys are close in age too! I snapped a pic of Karen so you all can see how little she is and how good she looks. Oh, and the first pic is of Nathan's desk. It was so funny! I was dusting it and all his little airplanes. Alex saw what I was doing and when I started putting them back up on the desk he brought me almost all of his toy airplanes to put up there too. It was super cute! I left it like that till Nathan got home so he could see too.

I had my check up at the docs today. I'm 34 weeks now. I gained six pounds this last two weeks! Scary! Not doing so good with that. I swear I'm not eating any different either except for a few pieces of chocolate here and there. :) I'm having to get another sonogram in two weeks also along with my normal appointment. I usually really like getting sonograms but I'm getting a little tired of them this pregnancy. I've had a lot! I guess she wants to see how big the baby is getting. I'm so glad I only have four weeks left! I hope I don't get too much bigger in those weeks. My double chin that I had with Alex is starting to show back up again. I think another plus with my long hair right now is that it makes my face look a little thinner. haha!

Nathan's brother just got into town today and is staying for four days. I should have some good pics by the end of it. Nathan and Mike went shooting tonight so I get some blogging time. Alex really likes his uncle Mike. He brought him this super cool car that makes noise and goes when you push a button. It's cute seeing Alex playing with big boy toys!

2008-11-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

This is Addison's stocking I made! I got a little kit from Hobby Lobby. It took a long time but I got it done! The package had a boy's name on the snowflake but I totally think this is a girl's stocking and not a boys. I can't wait till I can hang it up. We don't have too much longer to go till it's time to decorate for christmas! So excited!

2008-11-02T13:21:00.000-08:00

Here are our halloween pics! Plus a few more. :) Nathan came up with the big pumpkin shirt idea. Alex was a panda bear again this year. I was really nervous about how he would handle putting his costume on and thought he might be a little scared when we went out. He didn't want to put it on at all until it was time to go and then he came to me willingly. I think it was because we kept telling him that if he wanted candy he had to wear the costume. He loved the trick or treating part! He couldn't say trick or treat but he did say please and thank you. He probably would have gone all night if we let him. He was totally into it. He also really liked sitting on the porch when aunt Jilli was handing out candy. He did awesome! He also wanted to eat all of his candy right then and there. LOL! I think he gets that from me.

Nathan got home yesterday afternoon. Today after church we headed to the mall and got to eat some good chinese food. Yummy! Then we walked around and Nathan bought me one of my christmas presents. I can't wait! I think it makes it almost harder to wait when you know what you're getting.

2008-10-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

These are the pics from the skating rink. Alex loved it!

I went to my doc appointment on monday and it sure was interesting. First of all, I have a date set for my amniosynthesis. I thought the doc had said they had to do it if they induce at 37 weeks but apparently it was 38 weeks. So, she thinks it would be a good idea to do it at 38 and I agree. I got pretty huge there right at the end really fast. So if they do the amnio thing and the lungs look to be developed enough, which my doc thinks they will, they'll induce either that day or the next. They set it up for Dec. 10th. It's one day sooner than what she told me so that sounds great to me! We're going to drop Alex off at mom and dad's and he'll stay there for a few days depending on when everything happens. I'm so excited to have this all underway now! Also, I thought I was doing so great with my weight, but it seems the Mercy babies are just going to be huge no matter what. I've been gaining on average 4 lbs every two weeks lately. At my appointment on Monday I weighed 160. So, I'm thinking I'll be somewhere around 175 by the end. At least it's ten pounds less than I weighed with Alex. I will have gained 50 lbs instead of 65 this time. That's not so good.

Anyway, the second part of the appointment was that Alex was horrible! He's usually such a good boy, but in the last few weeks he's become a lot more defiant. I could not control him. He was bouncing off the walls, jumping all over, being super loud, kicking walls, standing on chairs. It was sooooo embarassing! Of course, you can't just spank your kid right in front of people anymore so I kept wispering that he was getting a spanking when we got to the car. That didn't even phase him. It's like he didn't hear me at all. Probably because my spankings don't hurt him anymore. He doesn't even cry and he goes back to whatever he was doing. Since the spanking in the car didn't do a lot I got the wooden spoon out when we got home and that got his attention. I could not believe my sweet little Alex was being soo naughty. Everyone was looking at us probably thinking that I needed to control my child. My doc even said I was going to really have my hands full soon. I can't tell if this is just an age thing that he's worked up to or if it's because Nathan hasn't been around as much lately. Nathan's the disciplinarion in our house which makes it a lot easier on me and I do let Alex get away with a lot more when Nathan's gone. I guess I just need to step it up a little.

Anyway, I'm doing really good with my christmas shopping but all of a sudden I feel like I just don't have enough time to get everything done. I have all of Joanne's family done except I need to mail one more thing. I have Joy almost done. Josh still needs to give us ideas. Nathan keeps saying he'll give me ideas but I've started to take it into my own hands and come up with things on my own. I'm not worried about Alex since he's so fun and easy to buy for. I also know exactly what I want from Nathan so I don't need to be thinking about that anymore. I think because the induction date is going to creep up on us really fast I feel pressed for time now.

We're going to be heading to Salina for Halloween on friday. I think it'll be a lot more fun to go in a neighborhood we know. Alex is going to be a panda bear again this year. The costume fits him a little better this year. I don't think I'm going to be able to get Nathan to dress up but we have a funny little surprise costume we made for me. I think we might carve pumpkins this afternoon so that would be fun. See what Alex thinks of that. :)

Yesterday, I went to Target with the goober. First time I've been there in forever. Their little girl clothes are sooo cute! I always have such a hard time not buying anything. I gave into temptation yesterday and got a little newborn outfit for Addison. It's light blue fleece pants and sweater that zips up. It has a little bear on the sweater and little ears on the hood. It's sooo cute and looks really warm and cozy. There were a few dresses in the clearance racks I thought about getting, but I just can't picture putting her in dresses when it's so cold out. I already got a little christmas gift from Joanne. She sent a cozy little carseat cover. It's going to be really nice for her for these cold winter months. I also went ahead and ordered the boppy pillow I saw online. I really wanted to have one with this baby.

Alex was really funny at Target. We went down the toy isles and he ooooed at everything we saw. It was cute. He kept telling me that certain toys were his. He would point and say mine. We went down this one isle that had a big fake dinosaur in a plastic container as a display with a button you could push on the outside. He thought it was really neat till I pushed the button and then he flipped out crying. He was so scared of that thing. It was funny. I asked him if we should got back and push the button again and he started crying again telling me no. He's a cute little fraidy cat!

2008-10-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm getting around to posting finally! The sling below is the one I made for me. Pretty cute,huh? Chalupa was my test baby even though we just took her to the vet and she only weighs 3.6 pounds now. Babies are a little heavier than that. I have so many things to blog about. I don't know where to start.

I guess, first, we went to Josh's football game this friday night. That was a lot of fun! The big South/Central game. Alex had a good time but he started to get very squirmy and very tired. He didn't get a nap that day. He kept yelling wooo and touchdown super loud! He talked about Josh the whole game because he's one of Alex's favorite people. Unfortunately, South won at the very end of the game. Very disappointing!

After we left the game we decided to run by the Skating Rink where Nathan worked for forever. Poor Alex was asleep by the time we got there and we had to wake him up. I don't think he really minded once we got inside though. We put some little skates on him with the wheels all locked up for him to walk around in. He took to it right away! Kind of crazy since he doesn't really like trying new things and is kind of a fraidy cat! After a while he kept saying he wanted to go fast so they loosened the wheels up a little. He loved it! Nathan and I took turns walking around with him. He really liked going on the floor. When it was time to take them off he was screaming and crying NO and trying to stop us from taking them off. All the rest of the night and in the morning he kept telling me he wanted skates and to go fast! So cute! He definitely takes after his daddy!

After, we got Alex into bed we played Loaded Questions. It's Nathan's favorite game and I think everyone elses fave now too! It turned into and Adult game as usual when Nathan and I are involved. It was super fun and funny and decided that we have to play it at christmas when Joy and Jason are out here.

Then, Saturday, we went to the farm. Alex and Daddy love the farm! It's so cute! Whenever we're driving and Alex sees a pond he says water and pappa. We had lunch there and sat around talking. Nathan shot his guns and then the boys played paintball. Except for Josh. He was all beat up from the game the night before. The highlight from that day was when Dad fell into the pond. I was the only one who saw the whole thing. It was hilarious! The bad part was that he lost his glasses and the water was super cold. Thankfully, he found his glasses after standing in the freezing cold water for forever feeling on the bottom with his feet trying to find them.

2008-10-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'm going to blog about stuff tomorrow. I just wanted to get these pics posted before Nathan left in the morning. :)

2008-10-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Since I'm going to be big and pregnant and ready to have this baby when it's prime christmas shopping time, I decided to take it upon myself to draw names for christmas for everybody. Obviously Joanne and Jeremy aren't included because they're going to be staying in Cali this year. Everyone I talked to seemed to agree to make this christmas cheaper too. So, we're doing one per person and we thought a limit of $25-$30 a present. Let me know what you guys think of the price limit? Alex and Addison aren't included in the drawing because I've heard everyone wants to buy for the babies and that doesn't bother me:). You can buy for whoever you want to in your immediate family. We'll probably end up doing our family's gift exchange at home. I'm pretty sure I've talked to everybody included, but if anyone has any objections or suggestions to how we should do this let me know. I'll go ahead and post the list on here so everyone can check it out whenever they need to.

buyer-buyee lol!

Mom-Jenny

Dad-Jason

Jillian-Mom

Josh-Dad

Nathan-Josh

Jenny-Joy

Jason-Nathan

Joy-Jillian

Okay, now Joy and Josh need to get me some christmas lists! I'm working on Nathan, trying to get him to come up with a list. Nathan and I both have lists on Amazon. Mom, I also want a new purse. Maybe we should go shopping together sometime:). Nathan has a five day trip to Florida coming up soon so maybe I could come visit then. We'll see.

2008-10-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a bunch of pics of Alex's room. Soon to be Alex and Addison's room! I'm thinking I'm going to have to get a neutral theme. No idea what that is. Kind of leaning towards a pretty shade of green with striped curtains or something. I don't know if I blogged about this but we couldn't get the right size mattress for the little toddler bed my dad brought up. I just happened to be looking around at Walmart and spotted this little toddler bed that matches the crib for $55. That was an awesome find! I have a bed set picked out for the crib for Addison but haven't gotten it yet. The dresser usually has the changing mat on it but Emily is here and I put that in the pack and play for her to sleep on. Alex always slept really good on that. I think cause the sides are curved and it has a super soft cover on it. Oh, I just saw on the news the other night that having a fan in your baby's room when they sleep reduces the risk of sids. I've always used one just to have noise so they don't wake up at everything you do.

Nathan and I just found out that this church really close to our house is also a small christian school. We've just started looking into schools a little bit and heard this one is a really good one and a little less expensive. We're really excited about this! Both of us have wanted to be able to send our children to a christian school. Nathan went to one growing up and was really glad he did and I feel that I'm going to do anything I can to help out my kids on their road to salvation. By the time Alex is ready for school we should easily be able to afford this.

Nathan is actually going to be home every night but one this week so we're all excited! He has a short day trip tomorrow and something going on Thursday. I'm not sure of the rest of his schedule. They had him as a back up for a trip to Mexico this week but I guess they don't need him anymore. I'm glad to have him around. I was starting to get a little run down being just me and Alex so much.

We went to a wedding this last weekend in Kansas City. It was a good one! They both are pilots at Eagle Med. We knew Erin, the bride, from Hays and then from when we lived in Kansas City. They were so thankful that Nathan was able to help them out with getting a job at Eagle Med. When I worked at the FBO in Hays she flew in there every day doing a cargo route a lot like Nathan's. We would hang out and got to know each other very well. She lived in KC and when we moved out there she helped us look for apartments and helped me get a job out there. The message the officiator at the wedding gave was really good. One of the better I've heard. Then when I was mentioning it to Erin, she said she wrote it. I was pretty impressed! They gave a message of salvation in it and also included a part on divorce. Then their vows were very good too! It was so nice to hear that this is not just a wedding where their so in love and all that mushy stuff. It was a real commitment.

After the wedding we went over for the reception which was really nice too. It was very fancy and Nathan and I felt a little out of place. We're not really the fancy type. They served sorbet in between the salad and the next course to cleanse your pallat. LOL! We felt just like Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries! Wasn't that the right movie? Nathan and I made jokes that we were going to eat ice cream between every bite we take at home! haha!

Then we went over to our hotel and went to see that movie Eagle Eye. I was so beat by the end of the night! It's always fun to stay in a hotel for me. It makes it feel kind of special and especially with just me and Nathan. No goober to distract us!

The Belly

2008-09-22T10:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the belly! Looking at these pictures now I think I'm doing pretty good! Sometimes I just seem so huge but these pics don't make me look quite so bad. This shirt is very forgiving too. It's my favorite maternity shirt and I love how it just hangs and doesn't make me look as ginormous as others do. It was funny the other day when I went with Nathan into his work all the girls there were like wow you've gotten so much bigger. I was surprised cause I didn't think I was that much bigger. It'll be interesting to see how I do in these next few months. I was fairly small at this stage with Alex too and then I exploded. So far I've gained 13 pounds. Doing pretty good so far! I'm really proud of myself for not gaining so much yet!

Oh and those first few pics of Alex are him with his cape and hat. He loves that show the wonderpets. He'll start saying wonderpets and bring me the pillowcase and hat. Then he'll say that he's either Lenny, Tuck, or Mingming. Usually he's Tuck! It's so cute!

2008-09-17T13:28:00.001-07:00

Thought I'd post really quick about poor Alex's lip. He has this tendency to trip and break the fall with his face! Well, last night he did it once again and busted his lip open once again. This is like the main thing we've had to deal with with him. He will either get a giant bruise on his forehead or he'll bust his lip open. Well, this time was a little worse than it has been in the past. Nothing serious but it sure did bleed a lot. Once the bleeding stopped I was going to put some ice on it but knew how he always reacts to that. I was pretty smart though and came up with a good idea. I gave him a bunch of frozen grapes. They're one of my favorite snacks and they always make my lips and cheeks numb. He woke up with a big old fat lip this morning though. Poor guy! I really wish I had the camera for this one! It doesn't seem to hurt him anymore though. So that's good!

2008-09-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't have any pictures to post this time because Nathan has my laptop and the camera. There were so many times in these last few days when I thought oh I wish I had the camera. Alex did some pretty cute things!

Nathan had been gone on a three day trip to Minneapolis and Dallas. It was my first real experience with having him gone since the first time I was in Salina with my family. It wasn't so bad. I did really miss him and night time is definitely the hardest time for me. I start to get really lonely and then I can't sleep without him. By the third day it was like I was finally getting used to not having him around. Then, he came home and now he's gone again and it starts all over again. He'll be gone till Sunday this time. He volunteered to work an extra day when they asked him cause it's extra money. Next week it looks like he'll be home most of the week and every night. It's funny how the trips work out. Some weeks there's nothing and others he's gone all the time.

I always try to cook things that I know Nathan doesn't like when he's gone and I love. It makes it feel like I get a little treat! This last time he was gone I made my mom's chicken pasta salad and california blts. I really liked making the pasta salad cause you can snack on it whenever you want. It doesn't have to be microwaved or anything and it can be eaten for several days if you make enough. Nathan doesn't like tomatoes or olives in the pasta salad and he doesn't like tomatoes or avocados in the blts. Well, anyway, this time I can't think of anything I want to make. Any suggestions? I know I talk to Joanne all the time about food and you might be able to come up with something for me. I know you'll probably suggest the italian vegetable soup but I don't really feel like making that one.

My belly is really starting to get bigger now. And, it seems like everybody is telling me so. LOL! I've gained a couple more pounds but I think it all went to the baby this time. I kind of have a feeling I'm going to get almost as big as I did with Alex. I have a doc appointment next week on thursday. It's the big glucose test. I hate getting blood drawn! That's the day of Nathan's trip too so I'll have to go by myself. No one there to hold my hand! She's still as active as ever. I think even more so! I found myself having to push little arms and legs around the last couple nights trying to get comfortable. That's the one thing I really love about being pregnant. Feeling the baby move! Sure I might complain about how it's uncomfortable or painful sometimes but, honestly, I don't really care.

I need to start doing christmas shopping soon! I know it seems early but I've been thinking about this for a couple months now. So, Joanne, does Jeremy have a christmas list or wish list on amazon? Joy and Jason, do you know if you're coming home for christmas? I really think that we should try to do christmas cheap this year. So, I think we should definitely draw names! I've updated my amazon wish list. There aren't very many things on there yet but all the things on there are things I really want. Yesterday I was looking through a magazine that had a bunch of christmas stuff in it and I was getting really excited. I love decorating and getting a tree! And, we'll have our new little girl for christmas this year! I'm getting so excited! The whole pregnancy process takes way too long! I'm so glad we're having her early! There's only like three months left!

Well, I have plenty of things to get done while Nathan's gone. I have a bunch of cleaning to do. I have to clean up the disastrous office. Nathan's Aunt Brenda is going to be here Sunday afternoon after Nathan gets back and she'll be sleeping in the office. She comes down every few years for the music festival in Windfield. She plays the hammered dulcimer. I have a project I've started. I'm making Joanne and I slings for our babies. I got the most awesome fabric and got started but now I have to wait till I go to walmart to finish. Nathan reminded me that we'll be carrying around babies in them and should probably sew in some extra support. Good thinking! They are super simple to make though and I can't wait to get them done!

Nathan's Arizona trip!

2008-09-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

These are a bunch of pics from Nathan's Arizona trip. He went to Sedona for three days this last weekend. It's really pretty out there and I made sure to tell him to take a ton of pictures. His Grandma lives like two hours southeast of Sedona in Payson. So, he got to go visit her for a few hours on that Saturday. He went on a four hour hike on the Soldier's Pass Trail. That really wore him out since he's not used to that kind of walking. The first picture is of the sink hole along the trail. Nathan was a little nervous to sit too close to the edge. There are a bunch of pics of the plane he's flying too. It was his first trip in the King Air 350. Pretty exciting. In the fourth picture with the engine you can kind of see Meteor Crater disappearing behind the lower propeller blade. Can you tell Nathan helped me write this? Nathan will be going on trips like this more often with this job. It's pretty fun and exciting for him. Wish I could go but at least I get to see all the pictures and get souveniers from different places. He brought home a really nice pair of earings for me and a super cute picture frame. Alex got a little sheriff badge that said Arizona Sheriff with his name on it. We put it on the Arizona hat Nathan's monna got for him a while back. So far we're both really liking this job for Nathan. He's doing really good at it and we like that there's room for advancement. His instructors were all so impressed with him when he went to simulator school. Can you tell I'm proud of my hubby? He has a trip to Canada coming up this next week and then he'll be going to Minneapolis and Shreveport. A lot more interesting than the little towns around Kansas. LOL!

2008-08-26T16:24:00.000-07:00

Here are my dishes that Nathan got me for our anniversary. Aren't they cute?! Alex is so funny with the banana sticker on his forehead. I put it on his forehead once and now whenever he has a banana with one he has to take it off and stick it on his head. Alex is terrified of the vacuum! Nathan always tries to make a point whenever he vacuums to have Alex help him. It's funny. He's freaking out the whole time but you can tell he kind of likes to push it around. Lastly, these are my men sitting on the couch. Definitely two of a kind! I caught them sitting there watching tv and snuck a picture of them when they didn't have a clue. Nathan gets really into things and can zone everything else out. Apparently Alex got this too.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning the last couple days. Real Exciting! Today, I was doing a lot of cleaning with sos with bleach and didn't think about what shirts I was wearing. I was wearing a nice blue one that I wore yesterday before I took a shower and then after my shower I changed into a nice purple shirt. They're both maternity and I don't have a whole lot of shirts that fit me now. Well, I noticed that my purple one had white spots on it and realized what it was from. Then, I realized that my blue one probably looks the same. I was so upset! I ruined two shirts today!

Tomorrow I have my doctors appointment. It'll probably be a lot of the same old stuff but Nathan gets to go with me to this one so that'll be fun.

Nathan is going on his first trip this weekend. I'm going to miss him a bunch! He's going to Arizona and will be gone friday through monday afternoon. Alex, Chalupa, Poky, and I are all headed to Salina for the weekend. Should be fun! I'm glad I have the family close! It wouldn't be much fun to live somewhere far away when my hubby goes on trips.

My dad brought down a chest of drawers and a toddler bed for Alex's room a couple weeks ago. We finally got the chest of drawers moved in there and I think tomorrow we're going to put the bed together. I put all of Alex's and Addison's clothes in the drawers. It was fun to put all those little girl clothes in there!

We've been working with Alex with the potty yesterday and today. He went once yesterday and once today. We think he holds it in cause he doesn't want to go potty. When he finally did it we were so excited that we scared him with our reaction. He was uber excited to get chocolate as a treat though. Now, whenever we sit him on the potty we say if you go peepee you'll get some chocolate! Hopefully it'll click soon for him.

Been a while!

2008-08-14T16:38:00.001-07:00

Here's my baby bump! In the second pic you can probably see my pregnancy belly button ring. I'm trying to keep it in there as long as I can cause it grew together a little with Alex. I'm 21 weeks now. So far I've gained six pounds. I'm at 131! I'm totally proud of this cause I gained so much with Alex. We'll see if I can keep it up though. Addison kicks sooo much these days! Nathan loves feeling her kick! I don't remember him enjoying it as much with Alex. I think cause this time around it feels so much more real. With Alex it was like we didn't really get the idea that there was a baby in there till he came out. My next appointment is on the 27th of this month.

The next few pictures are of Alex's hair cut! He looks even more like daddy with his hair cut short. It's so cute. I finally got around to giving him a real haircut (not just little trims here and there) and it was so traumatic. It was also hilarious! Right away he starts screaming and crying! He said jajaja and nooo over and over between sobs. The jajaja thing was funny cause that's his word for helicopter. I've got no clue why he was saying that one. Then he starts itching cause he's got tiny little hairs all over him. He's rubbing them in his nose, eyes, and mouth. Then, he keeps moving around making it impossible to give him a good haircut. It turned out decent but there are so many things I'd fix on it if he'd let me. I'm just glad I had Nathan to hold him.

He's so cute in all of the other pictures! I totally forgot that I had taken them!

2008-08-06T14:20:00.000-07:00

I watched Emily for the first time this morning. It went so well! Nicole dropped her off around 6:45. She ate a little bit and then went to sleep. We all slept till around 8:45. It was so nice to get more sleep! She was so nice and calm and hardly ever cried. Right now she's just eating a lot and sleeping a lot. Alex did really well with it too! He wasn't jealous at all and the dogs were curious but left her alone. Nicole was on the airplane today and has a little longer call out time than on the helicopter. So, she came over for a couple hours to see her little baby. I think it was nice for her to be able to see her at least once. I'm watching her again on friday. It's nice to have her be so calm and happy. She sat in the bouncy chair several times and was completely happy just sitting there. It's funny when I'm holding her little Addison seems to kick a lot more. LOL!

2008-08-05T07:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just have to post really quick that my son apparently does have a little bit of Johnson in him! Alex eats a banana every morning for breakfast. He loves it! Well, this morning he didn't want his banana. I put him in his high chair and gave it to him. He wouldn't take it. So, I put it on the table in front of him and told him he has to eat it. I told him I'm not letting him down till he eats it. He keeps pushing it away. He's being so stubborn right now. He's not crying or anything. He's just sitting there whining every once in a while. So far he's been sitting there for 30 minutes. I think I'll let him go a little while longer. If Nathan were home all he'd have to do is give him a look and he'd start eating. LOL! Yesterday, it was funny at lunch time Nathan called me and I told him that Alex wasn't eating his lunch very well. He had me put him on speaker phone and he told Alex to eat. Right away Alex starts taking bites again. It was pretty funny! It's nice for me to have someone like Nathan to rely on to help me out with things. I'll have to let you all know how this turns out. I have a feeling he's not going to eat it though.

It's a girl!

2008-07-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I went for my sonogram today. I was sooo nervous about this one. I was going by myself and having to take Alex by myself with a check up following. I thought it would be very stressful. But God answered my prayers yet again and it went so smoothly. You would not believe. I got there a little before 9:45 for my sono and got in pretty quickly. I tried to manage my water consumption this time so I had a full enough bladder but I wasn't dying to pee. And, it was just right. Turns out for me it works to drink 16 oz 45 minutes before hand. Then, after my sono I had about 50 minutes before my normal checkup appointment. I was thinking that Alex was going to freak out and get uber grumpy having to wait. We went out to the car and I buckled him in while I made my phone calls. I called about all of my family to tell them the news. Alex was just starting to get grumpy when it was time to go back in. Usually at these visits you have to wait forever to get in in the first place and then you have to wait forever for the doctor to come in. Well, this time I got in right away and I saw a nurse practitioner who came in right away. They ask the normal questions and we listened to the heartbeat and that was it. I got out of there before 11:00. Amazing record time! If you've been pregnant before then you know how these appointments can go sometimes especially when you have a 2 yr old with you.

Anyway, on to the exciting news. I was totally expecting to be having another boy. I was trying not to get my hopes up for a girl. So, when the sono tech brought up the pic of the vjj, not really knowing what I was looking at, I said it's a boy isn't it. She says no it's a girl! I am sooo excited! Our sono tech seemed really happy for us cause she was the one that did the sono when we miscarried. And, she's done a bunch of ours with this pregnancy too. Our little girl looks very healthy. She has all of her little parts. I had told her before hand that she is soo active. Always moving around. And, during both the sonogram and listening to the heartbeat she was wiggling around like crazy.

I'm so excited to get to buy little girl baby clothes! I'm totally starting early! Hey, I'm going to walmart today maybe I'll have to get some there. haha! I have to wait till Nathan comes home from work around 4:45 to tell him. He wanted for me to tell him in person. I think I'll let him look at the pictures and see for himself. The technician said over and over it's definitely a girl. So that's good. Hopefully she doesn't grown a little member in the next few months. lol!

2008-07-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Today, a friend of ours came over with her little newborn baby. She works with Nathan and was wanting to find a nice family with a stay at home mom to watch their baby. She only works six days a month so that'll be nice. They have a little eight year old and are a really nice christian family. Anyway, I volunteered for it several months ago and I'll be starting watching Emily on the sixth of August. It was soooo nice to hold a little baby again. And, this baby is soo unlike Alex in every way. She was so happy the whole entire time and her mom, Nicole, said that's how she is all the time. She said she's had two bad days so far. I was in shock. How do babies like this even exist? I hope I have one like that! If she's as easy as she was for the time Nicole was over it should be pretty simple. I'm excited to break out the baby swing and bouncy chair. I think this will be good for Alex to get used to having a baby around too. She said that they'd love for me to watch her after we have ours but understand if I don't want to. I said I probably would watch her but we'll just wait and see. It's only six days a month and I feel like this is something God wants me to do for this family. I don't know how I would handle leaving my little baby in someone else's care. I think having someone with the same values and beliefs as you is important too. Well, I'm kind of looking forward to this new challenge.

2008-07-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

These pictures are completely out of order and totally random. The first ones are the big painting project we decided to tackle. We started with the dining room which looks awesome! We're doing the living room, hallway, and entry way too. We've almost gotten the entry way done but we had to rip this ugly old sixtiesish wood thing off the wall. I got one wall of our living room done. We're doing that room a darker shade of brown than the rest. You can't really tell in the picture but in person the two shades look pretty good.

Then, we have a picture of me in Nathan's flight suit. When our air conditioner was out he made me put it on and walk around in it to see just how hot that thing is. I kept telling him I know it's probably miserable and believe him, but he wanted me to see for myself. After I put it on he kept saying how hot I look in it. Totally don't see that, but I guess I'm not him. It was totally hot and uncomfortable by the way.

Next, there are some random pics of the goob. My favorite are of him in the cabinet of our entertainment center. He started doing this all on his own. He'll get in there and close the door. He thinks he's sooo funny! I finally got some pictures of him doing it. Oh, and Alex thought it was really funny to put his blanky on Poky.

Oh and I decided to post the pics of our horrible back yard. But, notice I didn't do it until Nathan was mowing it. Sooo embarrassing. That mess happened due to ginormous weeds, the big mound from having our sewer line replaced, Nathan working all the time, and everytime he had time it was raining. I don't even think I could mow if I tried. I'm kind of weak and Nathan doesn't want me doing anything strenuous for the baby's sake. Anyway, it's already time to mow it again. Crazy huh.

It's so nice to have air conditioning again. I don't know how people do it that don't have it. It was especially hard on me since I was home all the time and Nathan went into work some days. We got it put in on the fourth of July and then that night Nathan got some fun little fireworks we set off in our driveway. Alex was kind of scared at first but by the end he was wanting to set them off all by himself. He really liked those little things you throw on the ground and the pop. He also loved the sparklers but for some reason the ones we got were impossible to light. So, we only got three going. I really wish it wasn't so dark or I would've taken a ton of pictures. He was soo cute!

Then, Saturday we drove out to Kansas City for that funeral. Nathan dropped Alex and I off at the Oak Park mall which was our fav when we lived there. He went to the funeral and when he got back we ate some Panda Express there. That's probably one of the reasons it was our favorite mall and it's huge and awesome. Alex and I walked around for a long time while Nathan was gone and I wished I would've remembered our camera. He was so cute. He loved the carousel they had and had a lot of fun eating dippin dots with me. After we left there we stopped by the bass pro shop for Nathan and it ended up more of a trip for Alex than for Nathan. It's a lot like Cabellas. They have a big old water fall thing with stuffed wildlife all over. There were streams and fish tanks filled with big fish. He thought it was all so cool! Then, he finally took a nap on the drive home and he was so adorable. It's crazy to think that we made him. Just two years ago he was a little baby. Can't wait to have another one of those! It's way too long to wait!

2008-07-02T07:54:00.000-07:00

Well, here's a little update on things around here lately. Today, Nathan went in to turn in his resignation letter to Eaglemed. He's been pretty frustrated with things there for a while now and lately it's just gotten pretty bad. He was offered a job at Executive Airshares and accepted it. He's been offered a job there two other times but still liked it enough at Eaglemed to stay. It's right here in Wichita which is nice and he'll be home pretty much every night. Which in the pilot world is hard to come by. He'll be a captain in a Kingair 90(which is what he's been flying) and a captain in a Kingair 350(which is the biggest of the Kingairs). And, he'll be a co-pilot in a beechcraft jet and hopefully within a year or two be captain in it. He gets every other weekend off. This will be the biggest change for us since I'm used to him being home a lot more. And, it will be a little less in pay but we can live with it. I think Nathan's happiness and safety is worth a couple thousand a year.

Now, onto the majorly sucky part. Our airconditioner is out! It is insanely hot here! The other day it was just squeeling a little so we decided to turn it off and have someone come out and look at it. Nathan asked around and got a guy that he had heard is very trustworthy and knows what he's doing. He came out and said our blower inside was shot and our furnace is a fire hazard. Great! So, the whole thing needs to be replaced. The earliest he could get someone out was in two weeks. But, then he said they might have someone available on the fourth. He said that we could use the airconditioner as long as the inside blower was still working. If we heard it shut off turn it off immediately cause it could damage the outside unit. So, we tried to live without it on for as long as we could and then tried to turn it on in the afternoon yesterday when it was like 95. The inside blower never even worked. It's supposed to get just as hot today but at least there's a little breeze. At least tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be better. I think we're planning on going out to the mall or something today to get out of the heat. Then, tonight, Nathan and I are going to see Hancock and the Richardsons will watch the goob for us. That'll be good for all of us. When you're pregnant heat affects you so much more. I swear. I just lay around all day with the fan pointed on me. I've been drinking lots and lots of water too.

On Saturday, Nathan has a funeral to go to in Kansas City. The guy that trained him out in Kansas City died in a training accident. This is just so sad to hear of someone dying in a plane crash. Being a pilot's wife this is something that goes through your head pretty often and it's really scary to think about. So, when this kind of thing happens I think it hits everyone in the airplane community pretty hard. I'm just glad that Nathan's the way he is. He's very safe and very precise about everything he does. We haven't decided yet if Alex and I are going or not. The Richardsons volunteered to watch Alex but they would have to take him to the lake with them and I'm just not comfortable with that. We're thinking of us going with him and just going somewhere else while Nathan's at the funeral and then picking him up afterward. We'll see.

The pregnancy is going good still. I'm at fifteen weeks now. The baby has been moving around like crazy and my tummy is getting bigger. Nathan thinks my baby bump is cute! I'm glad I have a sweet husband that thinks I look good even like this. I can't wait for the appointment on the 30th to find out what the baby is!

Funny Boy!

2008-06-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Mom, Dad, Jillian, and Josh came out yesterday and hung out for a while. Jillian found a laptop at Bestbuy and they came out to pick it up. So, of course, they came over to visit. All the pictures with the weird white things were from yesterday. It was padding for Jillian's laptop. Then, it turned into a super cool toy! Alex was pretty funny with it. He didn't want anything to do with it at first. Then, he warmed up to the idea and had lots of fun. Then, he got tired of it pretty quickly. They took us out to the Brewery and we got some good food.

Today Alex found some keys that I didn't know existed in a coffee table drawer. He has had so much fun with those. He put them in a little slot in his lawn mower toy and thinks it's so cool. He keeps trying to find a spot to put them in his car. Poor guy. Nathan says he's going to cut a little hole in the car so Alex can put them in there. He thinks they are the coolest things!

2008-06-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures from the festival and the last is just Alex and Daddy.

Well, first I have to tell everyone about my sweet hubby. On his week off his work called and asked if he could fly some people out to Goodland for some golf thing. He told them he would do it if I could come along. Mom and Dad were going to watch Alex and then at the last minute it got canceled. I was really looking forward to spending some one on one time with the hubby and was pretty disappointed it wasn't going to happen. Well, then Saturday rolled around and I said since we weren't really doing anything that day I wasn't going to do my hair or makeup. Nathan said that he was thinking we could go out to dinner that night. I'm like okay not thinking anything of it. Then, we're heading out to eat and he swings by the Richardsons to drop Alex off so it can be just us. I was like wow this is nice. We ate at Whiskey Creek Steakhouse downtown. We'd never been before and it was really good. Then, Nathan wanted to walk around a bit afterward. As we're walking he pulls me into this doorway to a very nice hotel. I'm like okay this is weird where are we going. He pulls out room keys. I was very surprised. I guess earlier he brought a bag by the hotel and had set up for the Richardsons to watch Alex over night. So then we get up to the hotel room and after looking around for a while decide to go walk around a little more. It kind of seemed like Nathan knew where he was going, but I usually follow him around cause I have a bad sense of direction and he has an amazingly good one. We come down to this area I'd never been before. It was really nice and ooh there's a theater down there. So, like it's my idea I say we should see get smart. Then, Nathan pulls two tickets out of his pocket for a showing in like thirty minutes. Shocked! He had planned out this whole really nice evening and totally surprised me with it! So, after the movie we go to this little cafe and get uber good ice cream. We sat and ate listening to live music and watching kids running through this open water fountain thing. It was so much fun. Everything worked out perfectly to Nathan's plan. Very romantic. He's good at that stuff!

Now on to baby news. We just had my fourteen week check up today. It was very quick. We went in, listened to the baby's heartbeat, set up next appt., peed in cup, and left. Going in to the doctor is not as fun as it was before our miscarriage and Joanne and Jeremy's loss. So, I was nervous. Hearing the baby's heartbeat was so encouraging! We set up an appointment for five weeks from now on the 30th of July. We'll have a sonogram first and find out the baby's sex and then have the normal checkup right afterward. It'll be fun! I'm so glad I'm passed that icky first trimester stuff. I'm feeling so much better now and have more energy. I'm making dinner regularly and keeping a clean house. It's so nice. So far I haven't gained any weight. My stomach is looking lots bigger though.

There's no way I'm posting pictures of our hideous back yard on here, but I'll email them to you Joanne.

The Zoo

2008-06-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo this last friday. It was really nice out and the perfect day to go. If it was any hotter it wouldn't have been quite so fun. The picture of Alex's cereal bowl and tractor is just random and thrown in there. He was being so funny! Nathan and I were just talking and not really paying much attention to him. All of a sudden Nathan's standing up by the coffee table and just happens to look down and this is what he sees. It was sooo cute! He had put them all in there. Anyway, back to the zoo. Alex didn't seem to be as interested in the big animals like the monkeys, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos. He did seem pretty fascinated by all of the little reptiles and amphibians though. He would get up right to the glass and look at them. It was a fun first zoo outing. He'll probably enjoy it even more the next time around.

2008-06-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't really have anything exciting to post. There really hasn't been that much going on lately. Just the day to day things that keep me way too busy.

The first couple pictures is Nathan and me being silly and making funny faces. Then theres the one of Alex with mashed potatoes smeared ALL over his face. It was so gross but so cute at the same time. He even had it in his hair and eyelashes. Then, there are a couple pics from the farm at memorial day. Alex loved those little metal balls. Even though they're uber heavy, he would carry two of them around everywhere and sometimes try to throw them at people. That wasn't so good. Those things could hurt. He was also obsessed with the riding lawnmower. He just wanted to be on that thing all the time. It got to the point where he could get up there all on his own and he would ask for the key. He knew the key is what made it go. So, pappa would be nice and start it and ride around with him.

Nathan and I have gone on two dates this last week. Crazy huh. We won't be able to do that when the next baby comes. We've been seeing a lot of movies because dinner is kind of out of the question right now. I usually feel pretty sick at nights still and can't eat very much. We went to see Indiana Jones and the mystery of the crystal skulls. We didn't think it was as bad as you did Joy. I guess probably because you told me about the alien thing and we were kind of expecting it. And, also because I like about every movie out there. We also just saw Sex and the City. For a while it was on tv like every night as we were going to bed. There were two back to back episodes and we ended up watching like the whole series. Well, if you're into that show, the movie was awesome. Nathan even liked it.

The first time I really knew I felt the baby moving around was on memorial day on the drive out to the farm. I felt two very noticeable movements. Since then it's been very active. I'll just call the baby a he since that's what my guess is. Anyway, he goes crazy about every night. It's like he just jumps around all over. I tried to see if Nathan could feel it one night, but I guess it's still those movements that only I can feel. Even though to me they're so strong now I can't believe that you can't feel them when you put your hand on my stomach. It's pretty exciting when you feel those first movements. Especially after having the miscarriage. I am 11 weeks along now. I've been feeling better and having more energy. But, it's still not enough. I feel like I can barely get my housework done. But, at least I can do it now. I felt pretty bad that the house was such a disaster and Nathan wasn't getting any home cooked dinners. I just really couldn't do that stuff. The bathroom was so disgusting by the time I finally felt able to clean it. Oh, I've been getting cravings too. And, of course, they're all of the incredibly unhealthy things. I've been craving cheeseburgers, shakes, slushes, and mainly taco bell. I don't know what the deal is with taco bell, but that was a big one when I was pregnant with Alex.

Nathan was really sweet last night and ran out to dillons for me to pick up milk and nanners for Alex for the morning, then went by Wendys to get me a cheeseburger and a frosty. It was pretty funny how he went actually. I don't go out all that often without Nathan. Just because I don't really have that many places to go to except the grocery store and it's kind of nice to have him there to help. Anyway, the last time I went out by myself I got hollered at and whistled at. When I was getting gas, there was this uber nasty older mexican guy at the pump behind me and he kept yelling nasty things up to me. Then, when I was dropping off a movie at blockbuster there was some nasty white guy in an old hoopdy whistling out the window at me. GROSS! Well, I told Nathan about this and he was like well you just look too good. That was pretty nice to hear. Especially since I had no makeup on and my hair was all scary. So, he decided that he didn't want me to go out last night because he didn't want me to get hit on again. I was more than fine with that since I didn't really want to go out anyway and I got a cheeseburger and frosty out of it too.

We've been playing black hawk down again lately. There aren't like any good shows on tv anymore and so we've been playing every night. It's a pretty fun thing for us to do as a couple. And, having a laptop is nice. I lay on the bed in the office with some pillows propping me up with the computer on my lap. Since I never feel that great at night it's pretty nice.

I'm so excited for when Joanne, Jeremy, and Hayley come out. It's only a week away now! I'll be in my 12th week. So, I'm hoping I'll be feeling a lot better. We'll see. Riverfestival in Salina will be even more fun this year because the kiddos can do some little craft things. I'm thinking that we could make some buttons and get faces painted. I don't know how Alex will feel about getting his face painted though. He's kind of a fraidy cat.

Alex has been so sweet lately. He comes up and gives hugs and kisses all on his own. And, if you hurt yourself he says tay? Meaning are you okay. He says it over and over until you say ya, I'm okay. Yesterday morning Nathan scolded Alex for eating all the marshmellows out of his cereal first. This is something that drives Nathan nuts but doesn't really bother me. I figure he's going to eat all of it anyway so why does it matter what order he eats them in. Anyway, he told Alex to eat the brown ones. Later on we looked in Alex's cereal bowl and there were only marshmellows left. It was the cutest thing ever! Alex has this thing he does that drives Nathan and me crazy though. If we ask him to do something he usually says uhuh, or no, or shakes his head. I guess this is a real two year old thing to do. Anyway, we've been trying to break him of this because it is a very naughty thing. It's so cute sometimes though it's hard to scold him. We'll see how long this one takes.

Well, I could go on and on about things that aren't really all that interesting to most people. I'd better stop now though.

copying Joanne

2008-05-28T07:35:00.000-07:00

I just read Joanne's blog and she made a baby update. So, I thought maybe I should too. I had a doctor's appt yesterday too. Everything went good. I'm 10 weeks 3 days along now. At the appointment she listened for a heartbeat, but couldn't find one. She said that it's pretty normal to not find one this early on, but she sent us to get an ultrasound just to ease our fears.

She also told us that since Alex had a moderate shoulder distosia(not sure on spelling) that she wants to take this baby early. She said that if it had been severe she wouldn't even give us the option. She would just do a c-section. I had no idea that when we had Alex it was such a serious thing. But, she said her youngest daughter had a severe distosia and she's lucky because it's not that noticeable and she can function fairly normally. She still can't move her arm in certain ways or wear a purse on her shoulder. She said that after she was born she didn't open her move her hand for a long time afterward. So, I guess it can be a pretty serious thing. She said that since Alex was so big and they babies usually get bigger with each pregnancy it's likely it would happen again and could be more serious. So, she said we'll do a lot of sonograms there towards the end to see how big the baby is getting and then see how early to take it. She said she can do it two weeks early, but might even want to do it three. But, at 37 weeks they would have to do amniosenthesis thing to test to see if the lungs are developed enough. Pretty crazy huh. I didn't know it was such a big deal.

Then, they scheduled us for the ultrasound which they usually do in the office, but we had to go somewhere else for some reason. I'm guessing they were all booked up then. It was 45 min. from when they scheduled it, so I had to get on the water drinking right away. It was plenty time for my body though. So, anyway we got there and the lady took so much longer than they usually do and I had to pee sooo bad. But, everything's looking good. It looks more like a baby now. The heartbeat is increasing like it should be. The ultrasound tech said that my uterus tilts backward and that's probably why the doc couldn't find the heartbeat. Apparently my mom's is like that too. Strange.

So, this was my fourth sonogram this pregnancy. I've had my blood drawn three times. And, it was technically my second doctor's appointment. And I'm only ten weeks. It's nice to be watched this closely though. It makes me feel like they care about our baby too. And, it makes me feel less nervous about everything.

Oh, and we decided we're going to find out the sex of this baby.

Alex's 2nd bday

2008-05-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Alex's second birthday. I think we made it a pretty good one. First thing when we got him up in the morning we sang happy birthday to him and he cried through the whole thing. I think he thought we were scary. Then, we went out to Walmart to get Alex's birthday presents and some things for the day. Man, we loaded that cart up. I'm sure he looked really spoiled. We did have forty dollars from Nathan's dad and donna to spend on him though. We brought the Kawasaki atv thing and diego kite to the farm for Alex. Mom and Dad got Alex a bunch of cute little outfits and two little cars. Which Alex loved the cars. Mom made cup cakes and Alex really liked them. Of course he was a little wary of them at first. Oh ya, Nathan was letting Alex hold the kite string and he let go. The wind took it all the way to the other side of the farm and it got stuck in the trees. Then it started raining but when it stopped Nathan and Dad went over there and got it out. Alex loved getting onto the lawn mower and playing with uncle Josh on the trampoline. He was so cute. It got kind of chilly out there so while Alex took his nap in the shed we hung out in the car. Then, when we got home Alex got to open the rest of his presents. He got some more cars, another jet, a jet with a man that goes in it, and a jet ski toy. He all of a sudden loves little men figurines. It's so cute. He bends all of the legs and arms and puts him on cars and things. He's been having so much fun playing with all of the toys he got for his bday today. That kawasaki thing was a good buy for sure!

California trip

2008-05-09T08:29:00.001-07:00

OOps! Forgot to rotate some pictures. Oh well. These are a bunch of pics from our trip to cali to visit Nathan's family. We had a really good time except I was so so sick the whole time. ugh. Nathan was really sweet on the flights to and from he held Alex like the whole entire time. Alex did amazing on the flights. Especially on the way back. We had these tvs on the backs of the seats in front of us. You just scan your card there for like five dollars and watch whatever is on. We thought five dollars was worth it to entertain Alex for us. He just watched cartoons or slept.
The first day we got there we went over to Nathan's mom's house to say hi for a while and take naps. Then, we went over to see Nathan's dad play softball. I went to bed early every night we were out there. The second day we just kind of took it easy at his dad's. That was nice. Nathan's brother Mike and his wife Melissa came over that night and we all ate dinner. Alex seems to love his uncles. He thought Mike was really cool! They stayed up and learned how to play craps and I went to bed. The next morning we went to church with his mom, Mike, and Melissa. Then, we went to see Iron Man while his mom and Roger were getting ready for the shindig that night. Awesome movie by the way! When we got back about a million people came over to see us and Alex and throw a little bday party for the goob. I was pretty exhausted and tired of socializing by the end of the night. The next day we went out to the airport Nathan learned how to fly at and to this park right next to it. That was pretty fun. Then, that night we went to a KT Tunstall concert. Uber cool! Except I got really car sick on the drive down there and the vibrations from the concert made me really sick too. I just couldn't enjoy things like I wanted to. Panda Express even grossed me out. Oh, I got my days mixed up. Monday morning we went out to breakfast with Roger's parents and Tuesday we went to the airport. Then, tuesday afternoon we went to see Baby Mama. That's another funny one. That night we went over to his Dad's so Alex could open his presents from them. We played some black jack and then went back to his mom's to sleep. Then, Wednesday morning we got up and got ready to go. It was a pretty busy trip and always seems like I need a couple days to recover after we get back.

I did a lot of sleeping on the trip and it didn't even seem like I was getting enough. I'm well into the whole pregnancy sickness thing and it's no fun. It seems to be just like when I was pregnant with Alex though. So that's good. Except that I'm already down to like 120. Having the stomach flu didn't help. Right now I'm seven weeks along. I have my eight week appointment on Monday and another sonogram on tuesday.

Tomorrow we're going to the farm for Alex's and Dad's bday. Should be fun!

2008-04-21T07:35:00.000-07:00

Here's the kitchen! All painted! Looks good huh? It took forever, but it was definitely worth it. No peeling wallpaper with paint over it. Nathan and I are really happy with how it turned out. Next, we'll be getting new hardware for all the cabinets and drawers. Then, we'll be getting those countertops we're saving up for. This kitchen will be a work in progress for a long time. We want to do the floors after that and then get new cabinet doors and drawers. It's a lot cheaper than replacing all of the cabinets. We also want to replace the stove and fridge with nice new stainless steel ones. That'll be down the road though. I'd love a new stove. Sure it works fine, but I really want one of those with the flat surface. Where it's not such a pain in the butt to clean. The paint in our kitchen made such a huge difference. It seems bigger and more cheery. And, since I spend so much time in there that's very important.

Well, the pregnancy is going good so far. I haven't been too sick yet. I get heart burn a lot and tums work really good for that. I also eat a lot of cereal these days because the milk helps with that too. I don't really like straight milk so that's why the cereal. As long as I get enough sleep I seem to do okay. We went in on friday to draw my blood and then we go in on wednesday to get the sonogram done. I'm kind of nervous about the sonogram because the last one we had we found out our baby was dead. It turns out that Nathan probably won't be able to go too. He's going to have to fly the jet on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. It seems like with every pregnancy I start showing earlier too. I'm only like five to six weeks and I'm already rockin a little belly. Not joking. It's usually decent in the morning, but then as I go through the day and I eat it gets bigger. By evening after dinner I look like three to four months. What's with that? Last night Nathan and I were getting ready to go on a walk and I was outside with Alex. Our neighbor across the street comes over and starts talking to me. She seriously kept eyeballing my stomach! So, I say ya we're pregnant again. She goes ya I can see. We had told her back when we were pregnant the first time. So she says ya you told me you guys were pregnant. I say well we had a miscarriage but we're back on track now. Then I say we're only like five weeks along. And she goes oh honey. It's like as soon as I get pregnant my uterus stretches out. I haven't gained any weight yet either. I just hope everything's okay. When I got so big with the last one I thought that maybe that had something to do with the miscarriage. I have a good feeling about this pregnancy though.

Well, I've got to go do some house work and laundry and such.

We're gregnant! (I mean pregnant)

2008-04-14T07:46:00.001-07:00

Here is our pregnancy test! I was going to try to get our feet in the picture like last time, but Nathan thought our hands would be better. Isn't that funny. Anyway, isn't it weird how when you finally give your will over to God he blesses you right away. After the miscarriage, I thought oh no Alex and his brother or sister are going to be even more far apart in age now. But, you know, he'll be a little over two and a half when we have the baby and that's still pretty good. We found out friday night at around 11:30 which was like the exact same time we found out about the last pregnancy. Crazy. The baby will be do on Dec 26th, the day after Christmas. Can't get a better Christmas present! I don't know if we've decided if we'll find out what sex this baby is. I'll have to talk to Nathan. Oh yeah, I have to tell what Nathan did to me. He's such a turd. So after I peed on the stick Nathan took it away from me and made me leave the room. He wanted to find out first again. Then, he comes into our bedroom and looks all sad and says I'm sorry. Usually I would have believed him cause he's good at tricking me, but I had suspicions this time. And I grabbed the test out of his had and it said pregnant. Butthead! Anyway, all of you reading my blog can pray that we have a nice normal pregnancy and a healthy baby.

My New Purse!

2008-03-31T19:27:00.001-07:00

Here's my new purse I bought today. Isn't it cute!? I've been wanting to get a new purse for a while now and I finally got one. I had seen a couple I liked yesterday and then today we went back. I was planning to get this white one I found, but then I found this one and had to get it.

Jillian, you have to post a pic of you in your prom dress!

I found a Hills buddy. I know I'm kind of a dork for being so into the show, but I love all the silly drama. Lauren, the girl I got the massage with, loves the Hills too. Crazy. We were supposed to watch tonight, but she had to fly down to Oklahoma to pick this guy up. So, we are going to watch it wednesday night. I don't know if I can wait that long. It's going to be hard.

So, Joy, how's the whole couch search going? I want to know if you've found one yet! I wish I could go shopping with you for one. I love furniture shopping. It's the best.

Well, Nathan and I got some shrimp cocktail rings from dillons. They were buy one get one free, and we love them. So, we're going to dig in!

Easter

2008-03-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

I was going to post a video of Alex's first Easter Egg Hunt, but the video thing was taking forever or not working right. I'm not sure. Poor guy was sick! He had the flu.

Alex is sick again today. He has a cough/cold. I was all ready to go to bible study today. I did my homework way ahead of time so I wouldn't be stressed at the last minute to get it done. Then, wouldn't you know, Alex woke up in the middle of the night all snotty, coughing, and wouldn't go back to sleep. Nathan was really sweet and got up with him and took him out onto the couch where they fell asleep together. So cute! Reminds me of having a little baby again every time Alex is sick. I want one of those! I've been really struggling between trusting God to give us a baby in His timing and trying to make it happen right now. I have a hard time with this because I always think that I can make things happen on my own. I'm starting to turn my will over to Him though and it feels really good. I shouldn't be worrying when I know that God has a plan for us and His plan always turns out to be way better than what I can think up of on my own.

Well, since I didn't go to bible study this morning, I figured I would do something productive. I had Nathan pull the stove out so that I could get the wallpaper off the wall behind it. Man, it's hard work. I just have a smaller section left to do back there. Then, I have to get behind the fridge. That'll be fun! Haha. But, then all I have to do is putty the walls and sand them down. Then, it's painting time! I'm uber excited about that.

The other day we finally got around to cleaning out the garage. It was a disaster! The laundry room was so messy I had hardly any room to do laundry. It so nice and clean now and the laundry room seems huge compared to how it was.

On Saturday I'm going to go get a massage. I'm so excited! This girl from Nathan's work and I have been talking about doing it for a while. Then, on Sunday, we have a girls shooting class thing. Learning how to draw from a purse and such. It should be cool. Nathan and I went last night and I'm starting to do pretty good. We were going to save our targets to hang in the garage, kind of like a competition, but he threw mine away. waahhh! I almost went dumpster diving for it.

Oh, and Joy, I just found out that we'll probably be in California when you're out here in Kansas in the beginning of May. Can you believe it? I'm disappointed!

Profile Picture!?

2008-03-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I took Joanne's advice and took some pictures for a new profile pic. I think we got some good ones. I know they're not quite as cool as Joanne's. Taking these pictures made us realize that we need to do some work on our yard. There weren't very many nice places to take pictures and we had to strategically take them around the dog turds by the fence. Also, I don't think I'm very good at posing, but I think towards the end I got a little better. I, also, think that I'm very critical of myself. As I was looking through them, finding the best ones, I found myself saying my teeth are huge, my face is ginormous, and man I look fat! Nathan always gets mad at me when I criticize myself, but come on everybody is more critical of themselves. Oh, and, I've been thinking about growing my bangs out again. Nathan asked me why I'm so obsessed about my bangs. I told him it's cause I've always had them and I think hairstyles look cuter without them. We'll see if it gets very far.

Nathan's been teaching me how to play guitar. We'll see how it goes, but so far he says I'm doing really good. He wrote out a bunch of chords for me and the first day I had all but one down. I can do A, D, C, E, Am, Em, and G. I know the fingering for F, F#, Fm, and B, but I can't play them right. It sounds aweful. It's really hard to do those ones. Nathan has a notebook with a bunch of songs from when he played in a worship band for a youth group back in college, and I've been playing a few songs out of there. They sound okay but not great and I play really slow. Nathan says I'm doing really good for just learning though. It's fun.

Well, we'll have another month of trying to get preggers. Poor Nathan thinks it's too much like work now. We really thought I was pregnant this last cycle because I was really sick. But, it turns out that Jillian and Mom both had the stomach flu and we were all sick around the same time. So, turns out it was the stomach flu! Sucks. Well, Joy and Joanne are in this with me so I shouldn't feel so bad for myself.

Well, gotta go make the fam some lunch. Adios!

2008-03-12T10:22:00.001-07:00

I decided to change the name on my blog because I just realized that we have one more member of our family. And, I didn't want an even more ridiculous name. Haha!

2008-03-10T08:00:00.001-07:00

Okay I don't know what the deal is but my stupid computer won't let me post pictures. Every time I try it says that it has encountered an error and can't post pictures. Stupid technology! I have all these great ones from Jillians tattoo too. I think I'll email them to Jillian and maybe she can post them.
Anyway, we had a really good time in Salina this weekend. We got up there Friday night and had stew and played battle of the sexes. It was ridiculous because the questions were so insanely hard that no one could answer them. Then, in the morning, Mom, Jillian, me and Alex all went to Martinellis and shared a salad. MMMM.... so good! Alex is the weirdest baby ever. He loves lettuce! He was so cute. He had to wave at everybody we saw. When we were walking down to the antique shop he had to stop, pull his hand out of whoever was holding it, and wave at everyone that walked by. Isn't he friendly!? Oh yeah, he also says Josh really well. He's like one of his favorites when we're there. Whenever he sees a football or basketball he picks them up and brings it to Josh. Or if Josh isn't around he just says Josh nonstop. It's really cute too! Then, we went back to the house to put Alex down for a nap and then Jillian and I went to the tattoo shop which is just around the corner.
When we got to the tattoo shop it was packed. There wasn't a place to sit in the whole shop. Jillian started to get really nervous and I felt like her mom or something. I made sure to watch that they got a new needle out and clean everything very well. And, I also took a ton of pictures. Too bad I can't post them yet. The whole thing probably only took a few minutes to do and it turned out awesome. We were worried they wouldn't do it on the foot because we've heard of people who won't do it there. But, they did it there and it is the cutest spot.
Oh yeah, and when we got home we forgot to set the clocks ahead and so we missed church in the morning. We were actually going to be able to go for once and we were both looking forward to it. We were getting ready and then Alex brought daddy his watch. Nathan looked at his watch, then at the cable box, and then at his phone. He was like well Jenny we can't go because we forgot about the time change. It sucked. Oh, well, we tried.

My Gun

2008-03-07T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here is my first gun. It's uber cool! It's a Kahr PM9 9 millimeter. PM means pocket model, but my jeans are way too tight to pull that one off. We went to the range the other night and Alex's fave Rachel came over to watch him. I did pretty good with it for never shooting it before. It's a brand new gun and that was the first time we ever shot it so it jammed a lot, but by the end it was doing awesome. I was worried that because it was so little that it would kick a lot, but it wasn't bad at all. Man, I should've posted a pic of my target I brought home. I was trying to make a smiley face in the head portion, but it looked more like an upside down smiley face.

The first pictures are of Alex posing for the camera. He was so funny! He would run over to the couch, pose, and say cheese, and then he would run over to me to look at his picture on the camera. He just kept running back and forth posing and checking out his pic. So cute! I think you can tell in a couple that he's saying cheese. That's the only way I could get a smile out of him. He's so handsome.

So, I finally got to celebrate the other part of my birthday. On wednesday, I went to an Aveda salon in town and got a pedicure. Then, I went over to Gordmans and shopped for a long time. I tried on a lot of clothes. I tried on eight shirts and only like one. I probably would've liked more except that I didn't want to go up to a large and the mediums were just not working. Way too tight on the love handles and baby jelly. I also tried on four pairs of jeans and found a pair I love for only $22. I figured I should get something for Nathan too so I tried on three corsets and found one I like for $14. Oh, and I got a couple thongs and two necklaces which I love. I really like Gordmans cause they're uber cheap. So, I spent all my birthday money there. It's funny, usually I don't really like shopping by myself. I feel kind of lonely. But, this time it was awesome. I think because I got to spend as much time as I wanted picking things out and trying them on. I didn't have a husband whining about how long it takes or a baby getting antsy in the dressing room trying to open the door.

Well, here in a while we're going to be heading off to Salina to hang out with the fam. Jillian and I are going to get a tattoo for her. Should be fun!

2008-02-29T07:12:00.001-08:00

These pictures are not really in order. Mom and Dad came by our house when they got back from their trip on Sunday and they let me upload their pictures. So, I thought I would share a few. And, a couple other random ones. The one of Josh was on their memory card. That's just funny. It's after a haircut. The ones of Alex are super cute, of course. The first one is Alex in his new outfit that Nathan's mom sent. It has a jajaja on it (helicopter). Then, the one with him sitting at the table. He was so funny. He had put both the toquitos in his mouth like he was a walrus. And, of course, I ran to get the camera and he wouldn't do it anymore. Then, this is the weird thing he does. Except it's not even that great of a picture. Usually he has his jets lined up perfectly in a straight line. He does this with crayons and cars too. He's just like his daddy! The last one of him is in his other shirt he got from granny jules (Nathan's mom). One thing I'm excited about is that he's started trying to say all kinds of words. Before he wouldn't even attempt. Now, he tries but they don't always sound like the word. It's so cute and he has a little bigger vocab now. He says hat, truck, girl, boob(I think he got this from Nathan somehow), poop(this he definitely got from Nathan), and I know there are a few more but I can't think of them right now. We have a date night tonight! I'm so excited! This friend of ours is watching a bunch of other kids that night and offered to watch Alex for us. We're going to Monterrey Mexican Grill. I've been wanting to try it for forever. Nathan gets to go there all the time with people from work. He goes out to lunch to nice places about everyday with people from work on the company. Must be nice. He has been working really hard lately, though. The last few days they had this guy come out and teach them a bunch of stuff about the jet. Last night Nathan had to take the guy out to dinner and I got to go too. It was fun. We went to Texas Roadhouse, mmmm. I had a steak! We had this girl Rachel watch Alex again. Second time now. He loves her. I think she's going to be our main babysitter. She's been a nanny before and babysits a lot. Last night she brought over a ball and this bubble wand thing. They played outside with it and she said he really liked it. It makes me feel good that I'm leaving him with someone that genuinely likes him and plays with him a lot. Last night he was trying to say her name and everything. It's so cute! Well, I've got to go change a super stinky poopy diaper. Adios!

2008-02-21T06:59:00.001-08:00

I got the cushion for the bench done. Cute huh? I think it turned out pretty good. Then, there's a couple pics of Alex running around with the oven mits. Uber cute. Then, Alex this morning in his pjs. The ones Joanne and Jeremy gave him for christmas. I think? Last, Poky. So, this morning kind of sucks. It has to be the worst day for freezing rain. We haven't had bible study in a couple weeks because the first time there was bad weather, then everybody was sick, and now we're not going again today because of the freezing rain. Normally I wouldn't mind, but I'm actually really in to this study. We've been studying Esther and I really like it. It's interesting. And, I feel like I actually have decent answers on my homework. Nathan took my car this morning cause his was so frozen over. That's fine though cause I don't think I would go anywhere anyway. Oh, and this is the morning mom and dad fly out to Seattle. They were supposed to fly out early this morning and I'm guessing their flight was delayed or cancelled. I tried calling them but they aren't answering their phone. They're probably really frustrated. It's hard to believe that just a couple days ago it was like fifty degrees and sunny and now it's like winter again. So sick of winter and all the freezing rain and snow. I don't know if I could live in Wisconsin or one of those uber cold wintery states. So, has everybody got their taxes done? We got ours done yesterday. Yeah! That's always a big weight off your shoulders and we're getting a nice return this year. Not to mention the added money that everyone's getting back in like May or so. We're so bad. We've already decided what we're going to spend our money on. First off, countertops for the kitchen. Woohoo! Then, a trip out to Cali before Alex turns two and we have to start paying for him. Maybe a cruise too. We'll see. And, Nathan wants to buy me a gun. That's almost more of something for him. Haha! So, ya, I was thinking we would put it towards some of our debt we have but this will be more fun. We've been working really hard on paying off our debt so in a way we kind of deserve to spend it on ourselves. Right? Nathan's been training in their jet all week and he's already done a flight in it out to Pheonix. I get pretty excited for him just cause I know how much it means to him. It looks like he and the other guy are the only ones that will be flying in it. He keeps telling me that after he takes his checkride in the jet that the crazy hours he's been working will get better. So, lets hope so. He's been gone like everyday this week till seven or later except for yesterday because we had this appointment to do our taxes. I'm hoping he won't be gone super late tonight. I miss him when he's gone so much. At least they have four pilots now and after he takes his checkride he should be home more than before. Hopefully. Okay, I'm going to say this on my blog because posting stuff on Joys doesn't seem to do anything. You need to post some more scrapbook pages or pictures or something. It's been too long. I need my fix.

2008-02-18T11:14:00.001-08:00

Oops I wrote way too much!

2008-02-18T10:29:00.001-08:00

Okay, so Alex's room is almost done. Well, knowing me, it will probably never be completely done. I keep adding and changing. That's how I roll! The first pic is kind of dark because the sun is coming through the curtains. But, I finally finished them. I'm so proud of how they turned out! They look perfect in his room and he loves all the jets on them. The last picture is of the toy chest I just bought today. I went over to the Salvation Army around the corner and got it for a mere $20.
Of course, I think I way overpayed for it in the whole experience I had to go through. I was just browsing the store like I always do seeing if I can find any steels. Well, Alex and I found this chest and he loved it. He can open and close it really easily and can get up on top to sit on it. It doesn't have a bottom, but it doesn't really matter. I was thinking that if I couldn't get anyone to help me take it to the car then I would wait to get it when Nathan got home from work. So, I went up to the cashier and asked her if anyone would be able to help me take it out. I said that I would be fine carrying it out, but since I had Alex with me there wasn't really any way I could do it by myself. She was really nice and said sure that she would find someone. Well, she asked this other girl that was working there if someone could help me bring it out and she was the rudest person I've ever met. Right off the bat she was saying that they never do that and it's not their policy to. Then, she said that she was too busy but if one of the other girls decided they wanted to they could. She said that it's not that heavy and I could put Alex in a cart and carry it out myself. I was thinking am I supposed to push the cart out there and carry this big awkward thing at the same time or what. So, I told her that I would pick it up later when my husband got off work. Well, after she left the cashier who was really nice again said that she would help me carry it out. So, I went to get the sticker off of it so she could ring it up for me. When I went back there to get it, the witch saw, and I guess took it upon herself to bring it out to my car at that very moment. So, in the middle of paying for it she walks down the isle and said where do you want it and walked out the door. I was in shock. Who treats someone else like this? So, I grabbed Alex and ran out the door so I could open my car. After she put it in there she said again that it wasn't their policy to do this. I could not believe this whole ordeal. I'm kind of proud of myself though. Not once when she treated me so badly was I rude to her. I even thanked her for bringing it out to my car. But, I think I'm going to pull a Nathan and write a letter about my whole experience. I just had to get that off my chest.
Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to make a little seat cushion for Alex's chest with the extra fabric I have left over from the curtains. I'm excited! But, it's yet another project for me to put off work on the kitchen. It's bad I know.
Oh, I should probably write about my valentines day and birthday. First off, Valentines pretty much sucked this year. It started out really nice with Nathan acting like he was going off to work and then he comes back with a card, a potted plant, and a candle. I always like getting potted plants that I can try to keep alive even though I always end up killing them. I have a black thumb! Anyway, he went off to work after that and was gone pretty much all day. He got home around five and ran out to spangles to get us some dinner, because I didn't really feel like cooking that night. Then right when we were starting to eat he gets a call and he has to go fly a part to hugo, Ok. I was pretty upset and couldn't believe that they would have him do this on valentines day night. He would've been back around ten except that the gps wasn't working on the plane. So, he tried a bunch of things trying to get it to work. So, he calls me and says he'll probably be coming home because he can't get it to work. Well, I'm all excited and start getting ready for him to come home and then he calls me back and says that he has to go anyway. So, he didn't get home till 11:30 that night. I got to spend a total of about and hour and a half with him.
My Birthday was a lot better though. We had this girl from Nathan's work watch Alex for us and Nathan took me out for dinner and a movie. He wouldn't tell me where we were going to eat so I was all nervous not knowing what to expect. He took me to P.F. Changs. I had never been there before, but I had heard it was really good. It was nice and romantic! We sat in this little enclosed heated veranda. I was nervous at first that it would be too cold but it was really nice with these big torches all around you. I had shrimp and scallops with rice and snow peas. Very good. Then, we went to see Definitely, Maybe. Good movie. It was nice to finally see a girlie romantic movie. Nathan really liked it too. He said that's one we'll have to buy. It was really cute. Then, we came home and used the valentines day gift I got for him. Haha! He did pretty good. Except that he never got around to getting me any gifts. So, he said that I could go get the pedicure I wanted and buy something else that I want. It's kind of funny because if he would've gotten me something it would be a gift certificate for a pedicure and a gift card to somewhere else. So, I don't mind too much that he didn't go out and get me the cards. This way I get to pick where I get my pedicure. You all have to let me know how your valentine's days went now! Oh, and thanks for all of my presents! I was so excited when I opened my package from Joanne cause I was really hoping it would be some kind of picture thing. And it was! And, I love hobby lobby Joy!
Oh, and no pregnancy yet. We'll just have to try really hard next month again. Poor Nathan!