Reminiscence Place

*pecial

2012-02-16T04:30:00.001-08:00

Aydin does not often say her s's at the beginning of many words. It is very endearing and I don't necessarily want to see it go. She says thinks like, "oooh that's a *cary *pider", and can I please have a *poon." And we have trouble with the -ed endings as well. For example, "that really *parkleded(sparkled)." Jesse mentioned yesterday that maybe we should start trying to correct her pronunciation. I had her saying all of her s words correctly and mentioned that while it was really cute when she said them the wrong way, she sounded very smart when she said them the right way. I left the room for a bit while she practiced saying her s words to Rykin and popped back in to hear her say, "Ssspecial! It is so cute when I say it the wrong way."

Quotes

2011-09-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

I burped at the table today without thinking. So, I decided to make an example of myself. "Oh, that was so rude! I shouldn't have done that at the dinner table. Excuse me!" Aydin say, "Yeah, you should do that in the living room!"

Made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. They may be more done than usual. Aydin says, "Mine isn't supposed to be like that." I say, "Yeah it is, it's toasty." She replies, "No, it's burned and too crunchy."

8/25

2011-09-02T06:09:00.000-07:00

8/25/10

Jesse get up early for work and I remember that he asked me if I thought he could stay home. I was feeling very ready for this guy to be here, but we had already had two false alarms. We had even asked my parents to come over one night because we thought for sure he was coming. I had a couple of mild contractions, but I sent Jesse to work, a bit disappointed. I was beginning to think that I would go to my due date this time.

My dad had a business trip to leave for that afternoon. I was having a few more really mild contractions, so when he called to see if he could come visit before he left for his trip, I asked if he would like to go for a walk. We walked together with Aydin in the stroller for a while. My dad asked if I was having any contractions, because he couldn't tell. They were a bit more regular, but still really mild.

Jesse came home at lunch, as usual and asked if I thought maybe we could go to the hospital. He really didn't want to go back to work, but my contractions were still 5-7 minutes apart and fairly mild. We called the midwife who said, "Well why don't you just come in after lunch and we'll check you out."

We got to the midwife's office at 1. They checked me and were excited to report that I was 8 cen. dilated! The office was connected to the hospital, and we were told that I would be able to go straight to my room ("in a wheelchair!," they said.) Patty, my midwife, came bubbling into our room as soon as we got there. She greeted us, very excited, and then excused herself so that the nurses could do what they needed to do. As soon as I was ready she came back into the room (and never left again until after Rykin checked out okay) and talked over everything with me. She was so comforting and supportive. That was a little before three. Jesse sat behind me in the bed, supporting me the whole time and Rykin was born shortly after at 3:35 PM. I held him briefly while Jesse cut the cord, but he was having trouble breathing so they whisked him away to make sure he was okay. He was perfect! An 8# 11 oz., 20 1/2 " baby old man. He was so wrinkly!

The whole experience at the hospital could not have gone more perfectly. I loved Patty, a wonderful Christian woman, who has heart for the work that she does! Having an amazing birthing experience made Rykin's arrival all the more wonderful! I was so glad to finally have him here with us! And as excited as I was to meet our little guy, I was even more excited to introduce him to his big sister.

8/25/11

Rykin is one year old now! The year went by so quickly. He grew up way to fast for my taste, but it has been a fantastic year; watching him grow, his personality blossom, and his relationship with his sister become more obviously playful. The boy in him has come out, and adds a fun little twist to the daily routine of these two girls. He likes playing with cars, attacking pillows, and walking around house with his walker (little old man.) He is very determined, if not a tad stubborn. And he is a charmer. He loves to socialize, always sitting backwards in his highchair so that he can see all of the people around him. He will be the class clown I think. He is confident, but at the same time quite a mama's boy. He has completed our family! What a blessing!!!

Reading about God

2011-08-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

I had a "The Way to God" booklet sitting on the computer desk. Aydin found it, asked what it was and started "reading" it. I came out of the kitchen and heard, "...and mama says Jesus is nice! I love Jesus, she is my best friend. I love Mary too." Ha, ha. We're getting there!

Before and After!

2011-08-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

We have been VERY busy this summer working on things around the house. We decided to put the back yard on the back burner, so to speak, this year since it is going to be such a beast to tackle. Instead, we decided to redo the front yard. The rocks were mismatched and the bushes were blah.

And recently, while Jesse and I were on a date night, we came home to a little flood in the bathroom. We had been planning on replacing the linoleum eventually, but were now in the position to have to move it up on the to do list. The old linoleum was not well installed and was bubbling up and peeling off the floors, so we replaced all of it in the kitchen, kid's bathroom, and entry way. We'll probably do our bathroom and the laundry room at Christmas break. So, here are some before and after pictures of our "little" projects:

(below is the only "before" bathroom picture that I could find.)

Aydin's 3rd Birthday

2011-07-31T12:36:00.000-07:00

Three years old now. She keeps mentioning how big she is. So big, with big arms, and big long hair. This past year has been extrodinary. I can't call it the year of terrible two, because although we have had our share of tantrums (both of us) we have learned so much about each other. We have both grown so much this past year. She is an amazing girl. Strong, independent, and unshakable. Love, love, love!

The quilt and book are our birthday gift to her this year.

She requested a black and white birthday so...

On eating...

2011-07-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

Aydin: "My oatmeal goes down my neck, and down to my tummy, and down my knees, all the way to my big toe. And some of my oatmeal goes down my arms, and to my elbows."

She hasn't taken a bite in a while so I ask if her elbows are getting full.

Aydin: "Yeah, and they are getting BIG (making "big arms"). Let me show you how big I am."

Me: "Well don't stand up. What if we measure you after you're done eating?"

Aydin: "Yeah, 'cause I don't want to be little anymore."

Update

2011-07-01T08:44:00.001-07:00

We have been busy this summer. We have been spending a lot of time outside shoveling rock this past week, so Aydin has been getting creative about finding things to do on the driveway. She is really good at washing toys!

Jesse brought the tractor out to help take out the bushes and save me a few hours of shoveling time.
After I had already spent hours shoveling rock into piles, I decided to put an ad on Craigslist for the rock in the front and three people responded and came to pick it up. The first two took about one ton each. The third lady that came brought a few guys with her and they cleared out all of the rest of the rock so fast. We are ready to start landscaping now. This is so exciting!! While it would have been nice to have pretty landscaping when we bought the house, this way it is more "ours." As it stands now we have dirt...
Rykin is growing up so fast! The difference between a boy and a girl is so funny. I've heard it before, but I just hadn't experienced it until now. He is old enough now that his "boyness" is really starting to come out. We don't really treat him any differently than we did Aydin when she was a baby, but there is no questioning that there is a natural difference there. He thinks it is funny to be rough with people. He was hitting Aunt Michelle the other day and just cracking up. He likes to growl a lot. And now when Aydin is a little too in his face he will yell at her, and then head butt her or push her face away, sending her crying and leaving him with a smile on his face. We tell him no, but it is a little funny to watch. I would maybe be a little more protective of Aydin if she wasn't asking for it so much, but she really picks on him sometimes. And at ten months he is starting to walk!! He has been pulling up on everything and moving from one peice of furniture to the next, but last night he stood up on his walker and just took off. I don't know if I'm ready for this quite yet. ( :

2011-06-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

Rykin had a "spot" show up on the white of his right eye two Sundays ago. This picture is the best one I have of it. I took him to the doctor, two Mondays ago, who thought it looked like a scratch and should go away on its own in less than a week. By this past Sunday it still hadn't cleared up, but had actually gotten worse. And there was a new spot on his left eye.

We went to see the eye doctor yesterday and found out that it is actually eczema. If the eczema gets worse or is not treated it can scar his eye. And if it spreads over the iris it can affect his vision. Also, this is a recurring condition, just like the eczema on his skin. He has mild eczema on his skin, and it flares up with the changing of the seasons, but I have never heard of eczema on the eye. The eye doctor asked if we have any pets at home...and when I think back, the spot on his eye appeared after the week that Abel started losing his coat. Jesse had mowed the lawn for the first time the week before as well. This eye eczema is caused by allergies, and whether it is seasonal allergies or an allergy to Abel, I am sure it is exaggerated by Abel either losing his coat or bringing clippings of weeds and grass in on his paws. The treatment, steroid eye ointment and removing the allergens as best as we can.

If Abel was healthy, I am sure this would be reason to find him a new home. However, we have been on the fence about whether it is time to say goodbye to Abel. He has gotten to where he has to lay down even to eat his food. So, I guess this situation has made a hard decision a little easier. Abel went to stay with Jesse's mom last night, and Jesse will make an appointment for Friday to take Abel in. I can't make the appointment. Abel is a very calm dog, so when he was in the house it was still pretty quite, but last night I noticed that there is just "something" missing when he's not there. This is going to be a rough week!

Quotes

2011-06-06T06:50:00.001-07:00

Aydin was sitting on my bathroom counter yesterday while I was getting ready for church. She started playing with my perfume and I was worried about her dropping it and breaking the bottle. I explained that what was in the bottle was special to me because it made me smell pretty and feel like a lady. She helped me spray it on and said, "Now you look like a lady!"

Quotes

2011-05-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

I was working in the basement today, while the kids napped. I could hear that Aydin was up, and she headed down to see me. When she got to where she could peek around the corner she looked at me and said, "oh mama, I just almost lost you!"

Quotes

2011-05-03T13:48:00.000-07:00

I just decided a second ago that I am going to start posting cute things my kids say. I always think I should write things down in her baby book so that I'll remember them when she is older, but I never do. I am thinking that it will just be easier to keep a record here and then some day when I have a lot of time (when will that be?!?) I can write them all down on paper. Anyway, this will be the first of what I am sure will be many quote posts.

Aydin (after giving me a big hug)- "You are my best friend."

Aydin- "Awww, you are so cute with yours purple shirt." She has been saying this a lot lately, obviously not about the shirt. I think she gets it from our church nursery attendant.

Favorites

2011-05-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just finished decorating the living room. A picture for Sherry as requested.

My two new favorite decor items. Above is a wool felt, woven pillow.

~Happy Easter~

2011-04-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

house and kids update catch-up

2011-04-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

Well this post is LONG overdue! Yeah, Rykin is almost 8 months old and has grown up quite a bit since the last update I posted and we are all moved into our new house. Sooo, I should have done this a while ago, and this may be too long, but here goes.

New house:

We moved in April 2nd. I think the move went

pretty well. My whole family came and helped clean and move everything. We had a few unexpected things pop up, but nothing we couldn't handle. As of now we are all settled in, getting to know our neighbors, and getting started on homeowner things that we will be working on all summer (the yard!). Here are some pictures. I still have some more decorating "work" to do, but I am having so much fun getting our house set up just the way we like it. This place feels more like home already than our rented house did. We are lovin' it!

Aydin gets to have her kitchen in her own room. She loves knowing that the space is all hers.

Aydin: She is getting so big! She talks all of the time and has started pretending a lot. She is a little smarty. She is so excited about her new "friends," our neighborhood kids. She has a bike to ride in our circle, and we have already visited the parks quite a few times. She couldn't be happier in her now home.

Abel: He has some bad days, but enough good days that sometimes I question his diagnosis. But I know that we need to be preparing ourselves to say goodbye. The worse he gets, the more cuddly he gets.

Rykin: 7 months old already!! He is soooo much fun! A very happy kid. He really only gets upset if he isn't being fed fast enough, and sometimes when I'm not around. He is a mama's boy for sure. He "talks" a lot now and can say mama. He loves playing with Aydin. The two of them can really get each other going. She is his second mama. If he coughs she pats his back, if he has a runny nose she wipes it (kind of), if he cries she tries to make him laugh or asks, "are you okay broseph (Jesse called him that and she adopted it)?" He thinks the world of her, and he is very forgiving when she isn't the nicest. He is crawling everywhere and so fast, eating solids, and learning to drink from a sippy cup. I just can't believe we are going to be celebrating his birthday very soon.

We are so blessed. It really feels like everything is coming together.

Abels's Diagnosis

2011-03-04T22:03:00.000-08:00

Our dog, Abel, started limping about a week ago. We thought, lets just wait a bit and see if it gets any better. Well, it hasn't and so I took him in to the vet today to see what is going on. At first she thought it might be his ACL, but she did an x-ray just to make sure. Turns out he actually has bone cancer. I thought, slow progressing maybe, he'll need some pain meds, but he'll be with us for a while still. She told me that actually it is very aggressive. Dogs who have gone to CSU for cancer treatments make it maybe 6 months past their diagnosis. I was shocked!! This was not at all what I was expecting when I took him in with a limp. I can't believe we could only have a few months left. I know that we aren't the best pet owners ever. We don't play fetch with him every day (he never brings the ball back anyway) and we don't take him for walks all the time, and we don't rub our faces in his fur and baby talk him, but we do love him, and we are going to be very sad to lose him. I was actually crying at the vet. I remember watching "Marley and Me" and thinking "it's a DOG people," but this is hard. He has been a part of our family for almost 5 years. And he's been such a great dog; really one of a kind! I don't really know what else to say.

Home is where the heart is!

2011-02-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

So this happened pretty fast, but we are in the process of buying a house as we speak! We are finally in a place where we feel comfortable with it so two weeks ago we let our realtor know that we were ready to start looking at houses again this spring. Okay, so it is not even spring yet, but this house listing came up in a location that we like (Severance is just 5 min. away from Jesse's work) and we HAD to just take a peak at it. Well, turns out for the money that we can spend this is THE nicest house that we have seen (we have been through this process before, about 2 years ago.) And we made an offer. We won the bid with three other potential buyers by $100. $100! That was too close. I can't even believe that this is really happening. We had the inspection today, so we were able to take some pictures of the place. The inspection went really well. Now we just wait. Our closing date is March 31st. The next few weeks will be full of loads of cleaning, packing and HGTV.

This is it!! The back fence to our house is the fence for the neighborhood co

mmon area/PARK! Aydin is super excited about the little park!

There are two walk in closets in the master bedroom. This is just the back half of my closet!

The living room and staircase down to the basement.

This is a look at the entryway from the living room. The kids bedrooms and bathroom are off to the left at the front of the house, and the master bedroom is on the right.

It's just a fan, but....I LOVE it.

A look at the dining room from the living room.

And last, the kitchen.

It has a nice backyard too. There isn't any grass yet, so Jesse has some work to do this summer, but it is a huge backyard. Okay, not huge, but big as far as backyards are concerned these days. We are soooo excited. Can't wait to post pictures after we move in!

Update

2011-01-29T13:16:00.000-08:00

Oh the old neglected blog. I have a little catching up to do. Here is all of our big news for the past two months...

Kara:

I have started my own business. Sort of. Not from scratch. My boss at the company that I have worked for the past three years decided that he didn't want to continue to run one part of his company. Things had slowed down enough that it just didn't make sense for him to continue to employ someone to run it. So he just gave that part of his business to me. I was extremely nervous at first, but decided to take it on. My first business day was January 3rd. So far it has been going very well. I do real-estate/title related stuff. Not super fun, but it allows me to stay at home with the kids. I can do a little here, and a little there so it's perf

ect.

Aydin:

She got her cast off the week before Christmas. She was actually sad to see it go and asked to have it put back on. She healed perfectly! Our real news these days is that she is potty trained now. A friend suggested the 3 day potty training method. I tweaked it and we gave it a shot. You are supposed to throw out all of the diapers and stay at home for three days to focus on potty training only. She caught on so fast. I was completely prepared for the worst while we were out on the fourth day (3 cloth diapers lining the carseat and one in her bag for a quick clean-up at the store, 3 pairs of undies, 3 pairs of pants, and 3 pars of socks, as well as a plastic bag to put wet stuff in) and we still haven't had to use any of it!!! We started this two weeks ago, and this week she decided she didn't want to wear pull-ups to bed any more either. She has woken up dry two nights now. So proud!! This is big new because pull-ups/diapers for 2 kids is kind of expensive.

Rykin:

He is eating real food now! I started him on rice cereal last week and he LOVES it. It only took him a couple of days to figure out how to keep the stuff in his mouth and now he gets so excited when I put him in his Bumbo every night. He'll reach for the spoon and lean in for the next bite. I think we'll try out some apples and squash next week. He is also pretty much sitting up on his own now. He wobbles a little, but he is getting so strong!

Jesse:

Hmmmm, he got a helicopter for Christmas (a little one.) That's all I can think of that would be big news right now.

Whelp, that's it.

3 Months / Christmas Kick-off

2010-11-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

Well, this (not so little anymore) little man is 3 months old now. I can hardly believe it. I feel like our lives are just running at break neck speed and I'm trailing behind yelling, "Wait, slow down a little." He is growing, growing! He weighs in at a whopping 14 lbs. He is smiling all the time now. Aydin was a very content baby, but not easily amused. Rykin smiles on demand. I love it! He is reaching for things now, and sitting up in his Bumbo. Just doing great!

Above is my all-time favorite shirt!

He LOVES his big sister! She is not so keen on having to share her space sometimes, but she loves him too and is willing to put up with it if he'll smile at her.

Over the holiday weekend we went up to Beaver Meadows to cut down our Christmas tree (one week later than I was hoping, but it was a beautiful day!) She was so excited to get on her snow pants and play.

Rykin was a little less keen on the idea of getting all bundled up.

We told her we were looking for a Christmas tree so she would point up and say "like this one." We settled on the one above.

She picked out her own ornament last year, and again this year. After a lot of debate she came away with Tom & "Jeremy" Go figure ( ; (and yes she is wearing a "cast." She fell off the couch on Thanksgiving and hurt her arm. We took her to the doctor on Friday and he said that he thought it might be broken and splinted it. We went for x-rays today and it turns out she does have a broken wrist. She will have to wear the splint for 4 weeks. She's okay and it doesn't seem to bother her too much. We'll just have to try and figure out how to keep that thing clean. It is already covered in yogurt, soup, and ketchup.) The house is now almost completely decorated, and it feel so much warmer and more comfortable with the decorations up.

Random

2010-11-05T10:43:00.001-07:00

Here are a few completely random pictures and a video as a stand in for a written post.

2010-10-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ah, parenting

2010-10-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

"Would you believe this kid who couldn't even hold his own bottle less than two years ago now has the gall to look his two-hundred pound father in the eye and tell him where to get off? What audacity! Obviously there is something deep within his soul that longs for control. He will work at achieving it for the rest of his life." (Dr. James Dobson)

Exhibit one (see first picture): My baby girl. Truly an easy going baby. I never thought that that easy going little baby would grow to be this two year old spitfire who (exhibit two) posses such a drive for control, such a strong sense of independence, and such a stubborn streak. Where did she get that from? Hmmm... yeah, okay I know exactly where it came from, what I really want to know is how do I effectively and lovingly parent this child to help her to become the Godly and naturally born leader that I know she can be? I think I have finally come to the point where I feel like this is it; I need strategy, advice, a guidebook, prayer. Obviously the terrible twos have been exacerbated by everything that goes along with welcoming our new addition (funny that I thought he was going to be the hard part of being a mother to two) but I know that this is not just terrible twos. This is a part of her that will always be there, I should know, I've still got it. I need to know how to mold it, how to show her how to use it in positive ways instead of using it to fight us at every corner... and straightway... and dead end.

Examples:

"Aydin, it's time to get dressed." She stops in her doorway, turns, puts her hand up and screams "NO MAMA! I do it!" She runs to her closet, while making sure that I'm not following her, and picks out her own outfit."

She points to one of the ribbons on her pinwheel and says pink (none of them are pink, and she really knows her colors). I say "no, what color is that? You know it." She points to it again, "pink." She then points to the rest of them saying, "pink, pink, pink, pink" and smiles with sass.

Jesse was trying to put her down for a nap the other day, and was on the losing end of the battle. After about an hour of trying to get her to sleep he says, "You need to lay down and go to sleep. I'll be back to check on you." He left and not one minute later we heard her door open. He saw her spot him, out of the corner of his eye, and she closed her door as fast as she could. When he went to check on her she was in bed and sat up and said "nap all done, play time."

I know, I know, this sounds like every other two year old, but this is how she responds to most situations. Funny and frustrating at the same time. Eh, we'll figure it out. With the help of good old Dr. Dobson, I will conquer her. I kid, I kid... kind of. She is such a loving, sensitive little girl. She has an amazing sense of humor and although she knows how to push my buttons, she also knows how to melt my heart.

And here is my little man. Almost 2 months old. Look at that amazing smile. Just imagine... it is ten times more dashing in person.

After one month together...

2010-09-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

First Week

2010-09-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

We have been home for almost two weeks now. It has been great. Rykin was born Wednesday the 25th, and Jesse was able to take off the rest of tat week and all of last week. Aydin has been doing pretty well, with the exception of a few rough bedtimes and the addition of a timeout chair to the routine for almost a week. She has been a little jealous of the attention Rykin gets from momma, but Jesse was able to do a lot of fun stuff with her, and I got out a couple of times for some quick just the two of us outings (ice cream cones at the park, and a pedicure.)

Rykin has been doing so well! Another easy baby I think, different than Aydin who was also, but easy none the less. He has been sleeping really hard. My only challenges so far are getting him to stay awake to eat, and getting him to burp so that he doesn't lay there grunting all night. He has been staying awake for longer periods of time every day. He was up for almost two hours earlier this morning. I love looking into his eyes. I think they are going to be hazel or brown maybe. They are a darker, warmer grey than Aydin's were. It's fun to already be able to see little things that clue us into what his personality is going to be. So far I can tell he is more patient than Aydin is. I think Aydin has more of my personality in her, and I think Rykin will be a little more like Jesse. Who does he look like? At first all I could see was David. Sometimes when he is sleeping I think he looks a lot like me as a baby, and I have heard from more than a couple of people that he looks a lot like my dad. He and Aydin have the same eyes (I think they are Jesse's).

It is amazing to me how our family seems so complete now. I told Jesse that I will not commit myself to just two kids, but at the same time the way we are now seems so right. I can't imagine how I would divide myself between three or four when it is so hard with just two. I haven't been able to just hold and admire him as much as I was able to with Aydin, and at the same time I feel like I haven't been able to stretch myself enough to give Aydin all of the cuddling, and undivided attention that she is craving. I know she will learn to share me, and as he gets older it will get easier, but right now...it's just hard. I was holding Rykin against my chest, under my chin, yesterday and I found myself just soaking it all in. His smell, the warmth of his squishy little body curled up against me, his quick even breaths. I am going to have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that this could be my last little baby.

I think every single person who has asked us how we are doing has also asked if we are getting any sleep. I think if you are a parent you know well enough that we are not (I am not). I think I got a total of 2.5 hrs. last night. Somehow it is just now catching up to me. Today is my first day alone with the kids. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon to, so I'll be going on my first official outing with both kids today too. I am a little nervous to see how it will go. Being a mom of two has been much easier than I imagined, but Jesse has been home with us up until now so I may be singing a different tune tonight. I am most worried about how Aydin will handle him being back at work. We'll see.

And so it begins, the little man is calling...

Down to the Wire

2010-08-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

39 weeks. Yes, yes, yes I know it is healthier for baby to stay put for as long as possible, but I was hoping that he would be here already. This pregnancy flew by, but now that we are this close it seems to be just creeping along at a snail's pace. I will admit that as far as mothering goes, or life for that matter, the area that I could use the most improvement in is patience. I am definitely feeling it right now, that lack of patience that sometimes gets the best of me. I keep having dreams of holding him, and introducing him to Aydin. I am so excited for that! I can't wait to see the look on her face when it becomes clear to her that "brother" is not just another name for my huge belly. I have been telling everyone every night (for the past week and 1/2) that "tonight is the night." I am coming to terms with the fact that all the wishful thinking in the world won't make it happen, but at this point it really can't be much longer. Oh the wait.

Our Last Hurrah

2010-07-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Jesse and I had talked about how nice it would be to take a family vacation during shut-down this summer, but in reality I'm not really supposed to travel 36 weeks pregnant. So, instead we decided that it would be fun to take Aydin to Denver for a couple of days to do some last only child stuff with her. I got a great deal on a nice hotel that was only a block away from the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver, and only a few minutes away from the Zoo and Children's Museum. We stayed one night, and had so much fun together!

Our first stop on the way into Denver was the Zoo. Aydin has been before, but we thought she might have more fun this time since she is a little older.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel to check in and get some lunch. Aydin was very impressed with the bounciness of the bed, and the swimming pool ( : Since we were so close to the "mall" (and because we couldn't for the life of us get her down for a nap with the bouncy bed and all) we did a little afternoon shopping, went to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and saw Despicable Me, such a cute movie. The shopping pretty much did her in, so after her nap she was in a good mood for the movie and seemed to really like it. Below is a picture of us in the theater before the movie started.
The hat she is in is definitely a boy's cap, but she found it at Gap, put it on, and decided it was hers. I actually really like it on her. She insisted on wearing it most of the trip.Monday morning we had breakfast at a bakery on the mall and headed out to the Children's Museum. The museum was for sure her favorite part of the trip. She still spent the most time in the painting area, the girl's an artist.
We didn't get a chance to build anything together last time we were at the museum because it was so packed, but this time Jesse sat down with her and built a car for her. She was so proud, showing the other kid's her car. One little kid was very impressed and trying to get his grandma to make him one.
We had such a good time. I told Jesse we need to try and do this sort of thing a few times a year from now on. Jesse is on his three week shut-down now, and although we have a pretty busy week ahead of us, I am excited to get some time with him home to relax a little, focus on Aydin a lot, and just have some time to prepare for a new family member.

Almost There

2010-07-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

I have now hit 34 weeks. It went by so fast this time! In no time at all I'll be juggling life as a mom of two. I'm still feeling great, big, but great. I have finally met all 4 of the midwives at my office and I really like all of them. Now that I know that he and I will be in the care of someone that I am comfortable with, I feel a lot more at peace with the upcoming delivery.

Aydin is becoming such a toddler. She talks all the time now, and just gets funnier every day. She has been potty training for almost 2 months now and is doing great with it. We have finally gotten her into some real undies that she wears at home (as seen above). She is very proud of them too.

This is becoming a very busy summer, which is good because it helps to pass the time. We have a wedding shower, a bachelorette party, a three day vacation to Denver (a last hurrah for our only child), two birthday parties, a rehearsal, and a wedding all coming up in the next couple of weeks (how can I look graceful waddling down the isle?). And then, hopefully, he'll be here. We'll see. I have to say that when I think about it all at once my heart beats a little faster, but it is going to be such a great month!

A More Masculine Nursery

2010-06-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

I finally finished everything for Rykin's half of the nursery. I have always wanted to do a "Where the Wild Things Are" themed boys room. The movie was a bummer, but I still love the illustrations in the book, and so here it is! I am pretty excited about how it turned out, hopefully this is enough to balance out the femininity coursing through that room.

What are we going to do about this?

2010-06-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Aydin has finally really started climbing. Here are her most recent accomplishments. Both times we walked into her room and found her after she had already climbed up, so we made her show us how she did it in hopes that we could stop her from doing it again. We'll see how that goes.

Straw Bale Gardening

2010-05-29T10:49:00.001-07:00

So I recently read about straw bale gardening in another blog, and thought that it looked easy enough. I haven't had much luck with gardens in the past, but this way the garden can be closer to the house so maybe I'll remember to water it. We got our bales last weeks and have been watering and fertilizing every day. Today Jesse took Aydin and I to get some plants and seeds for our garden. We got watermelon, onion, and bean seeds, as well as tomato, cherry tomato, banana pepper, and hot pepper plants. I also love to have fresh herbs every year so we picked out some cilantro, mint, basil, and chives to go in the sides of the bales. I wish we had pictures from the nursery. Aydin was so cute pushing the wagon and adding whatever she thought we needed to the pile. We all planted the garden this morning. I am so excited to watch it take off (fingers crossed.)

Bonding

2010-05-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

I rocked Aydin for a little while before bed tonight. While she was laying on my chest she put her hands on my belly and she felt her baby brother kick. She sat up as soon as it happened and gasped with a big grin on her face. After she climbed into bed she reached over and patted my belly before she rolled over to sleep. So sweet!

2010-05-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

Our Mother's Day picture. When we ask her to smile she always squints her right eye.

I have been thinking of doing a post all week, and now that I'm writing I've forgotten what I was even going to write about. There really is nothing going on here right now. Aydin has been talking more and more all the time. I am feeling great. I had my first appointment with the midwife on Friday. I switched from my OB because I just wasn't happy with the way Aydin's delivery went. The visit was the same as all of the others with the OB, but I really am much less apprehensive about the delivery now. I have finished baby boy's crib blanket and am working on the bumper, so pictures of the boy half of our nursery to come soon I hope. Mother's day was wonderful. And everything else is good too. Not much of an update, but oh well.

She has discovered suckers recently. She did share with Abe, but I washed it off. These boots are her FAVORITE. I have a really hard time getting her to wear anything else. This has been going on for about a month and a half, and in that whole time I think she has worn different shoes maybe 3 or 4 times. If I try to put something else on she frowns and says " no, boooos."

Its a...

2010-04-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

Ugh!!! Why is it 3am and I feel completely rested? I'm not, but I can't fall back asleep, so what else would I possibly be doing right now?

So we had the big halfway appointment/ultrasound yesterday. First and foremost this is one healthy baby, measuring right on 20 weeks (which is what I am). And if you can't tell from the picture he is perfect.

That's right folks, we're having a boy!!! Obviously I'm so excited. I could tell you I would have been just as excited and happy if this was a girl, but I'd be lying. And since this isn't a girl I do feel okay saying that. Oh, and daddy (who swore he could tell everything he was looking at and knew, way before we were told, that Aydin was a girl) did not have a guess as to what this one was. So when the determining shot came up on the screen and he couldn't say, the first thing that popped into my head to blurt out was "HONEY, ITS A _______" well my grandparents read this so I won't write it, but the most obvious thing on the screen isn't what you would think because Jesse didn't know (so fill in the blank yourself. But I didn't say that... instead I said "ITS A BOY!" And I had tears in the corners of my eyes as soon as I knew. I can't even tell you how happy I was, almost speechless, but not quite. And of course after the ultrasound tech pointed out the anatomy using the correct terminology the next thing that fell out of my mouth was "honey, look how tiny it is." I'm sure that's exactly what he wanted to hear, but I needed a laugh to clear the air before I started crying. She then continued to show us the rest of his perfect self saying "look at the pretty little heart," and "look at that pretty little face." I felt like saying "no lady, let's use words like good STRONG heart, and handsome face," that's my son we're talking about! Oh well, I just sat and took it all in with my mouth hanging open and a big stupid smile on my face.

Aydin didn't have a clue what was going on. When she looked up at the screen she wasn't seeing what we were, because she started making monkey sounds. Hahaha, at least she thought it was some kind of creature, that's pretty good for a not quite two year old. I pointed to my bigger yet belly the other day and said baby. She started poking at my belly button, and pinching my stomach, but we have got a ways to go before she gets it. What a surprise this is going to be.

As to names, yes we have one for him. Jesse, in the midst of a long string of terrible suggestions, came up with one early on in my pregnancy with Aydin. This will be the name! It's the only one that he suggested that I even remotely liked so this is it. However, if we don't have a name to argue over, of course there is going to be a hang-up about the way it is spelled. He apparently has known even since before we came up with the spelling or Aydin's name how he wants this spelled, and I don't like it. So, I won't be writing it out here just yet. Some of you know, but some of you don't and you'll just have to wait. Sorry. Oh yeah, and Jesse says I have to eat steak for the rest of the pregnancy. Gag.

And now it is time to try to fall back asleep!

1/2 way there

2010-03-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Well we have been very busy this past few weeks. They have flown by. Aydin and I made a trip to Olympia, WA to see some great friends. We decided to go almost last minute, but I am so glad that we did. While I wouldn't say that it was a relaxing trip, it was sooo much fun. I could totally see myself living there (no plans to move) There is so much to do, they have an amazing fabric shop and great coffee, and it is beautiful, not to mention the friends. This trip was planned by my brother and his fiance, so we went with them. Needless to say, Kailin and I got to spend some more time together, and I think became a lot closer (we were sharing a bed).

Aydin has been talking so much this past few weeks. She went from not seeming to care about talking, to now trying to repeat everything. She still doesn't talk much in public, but at home oh my. It is really fun to wait and see what she will say next. At 20 months old she finally has 8 teeth, and two more molars almost ready to be done popping though. We can FINALLY give her whole pieces of some things for her to take bites of. Can you tell this is a big deal for us? The video was included just because I think it's funny, and I didn't feel like posting a bunch of pictures.

Halfway through the pregnancy now, and feeling great. Will not be posting a belly picture quite yet (not that there isn't a belly yet). Halfway, ahhhh I need to start my "scrapbook" for this one. I already had at least 5 entries in Aydin's by now. This has gone by so much faster than my pregnancy with Aydin. I suppose it's because I am pretty distracted from thinking about it all the time. I have tried to think of what has been different with this pregnancy that would give me any indication of what this baby might be. All I can come up with are my cravings; hamburgers with Aydin, apples with this one. Oh, and this baby moves a lot more than I remember Aydin moving. All day long. That's not enough to go on. Only one more week until we find out. How in the world do people make it all the way to delivery without knowing. Even 20 weeks is killing me.

Moved

2010-02-21T14:45:00.000-08:00

I think I felt baby move today. I have been thinking that for the past week every once and a while, but today I am almost 99% sure of it, although it is a very subtle movement that I guess could be other things. But no, I am almost 99% sure today that this movement that I am feeling is baby. Oh, I love that feeling... I can't wait until I can be 100% sure of it.

Random Update'

2010-02-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

We have actually had some interesting things going on in the past couple of weeks.

Our pet thing: So we got a cat. We decided that our fifteen some scattered mouse traps weren't really doing the job, so we got an outdoor/sometimes indoor cat to help us out. So far so good. The picture is the cat after meeting Samson (Levi's Saint Bernard) for the first time.

Our fun thing: We were able to go to the Children's Museum in Denver on Monday with some great friends and cousins. We all had such a good time. We went on President's Day without really thinking about it, and it was pretty busy, but still a good time. I think we will go again when it is not a holiday. I think her absolute favorite thing was the painting exhibit. She painted two pictures and probably would have kept on painting if we didn't need to move on. When we got home I decided to see if I could find a good deal on an art easel for her. It should be here next week, and I think she will love it. I have been wanting to find some other constructive things to do with her, so this will be perfect!

Our exciting thing: We had a surprise visit from Levi and Danielle over the weekend. It is always so fun when they come. Aydin and Ethan get along so well (when she's not bossing him around) and she loves his company. They haven't come down quite as often this winter as we thought that they might (maybe because they have a brand new baby) so we are hoping for a few more visits before the summer rush.

Our thing to look forward to: The Mercantile is getting their first batch of chicks in tomorrow, so we are going to give it another try. This time with a hopefully impenetrable chicken yard. I think Aydin will love them. She seems to like any and every animal she sees.

Our sick thing: Aydin came down with a stomach something last night and was up getting sick all night. We have our little set-up on the couch this morning with a drop cloth for the couch, a puke bucket, a few bottles of water, and some rags. This is her first bout ever, so we'll see how we handle it. She seems to be feeling okay, but hasn't had anything to eat yet, and didn't keep her water down.

Our baby thing: Everything is going well so far. I have my first check-up with the doctor on Monday. I will be 14 weeks then. After that only 4 more weeks until my next appointment, and I am hoping that they will go ahead and schedule an ultrasound then so we can find out what we are having. We'll see.

Well thats it, my random update.

Aydin's Show

2010-02-09T17:13:00.000-08:00

Just a couple of videos of Aydin that I thought were particularly cute. The second one is mostly for her Grandpa because she loves to say grandpa, but never in front of him ( : Her new favorite word to say is giggle though, and for now the rest of her words are on the back-burner until she gets through this phase. These are the few words that I could get her to say on video.

Expecting

2010-01-30T12:22:00.001-08:00

Expecting:

~another miracle and blessing arriving at the end of the summer

~an uneventful pregnancy

~one big sister to be very happy, helpful, and amazing

~to be pretty huge before this is all over (am I already showing or is that all of the eggs benedict I've been eating?)

~my heart to somehow double in size to accommodate

~to be very busy knitting and sewing all spring/summer

~(hoping for) a little boy, I can say that right? but I won't be disappointed either way

~to change Jesse's mind about a name I have picked out

~a hot summer full of anticipation, preparation, and celebration

~a new aunt for my kiddos (and a new sister for me!)

~the happiest July/August of my life

~our house to be a little cramped, but full of more fun and memory making than ever

~to be visiting Suehiro for Buddha rolls quite often this pregnancy

~a visit from the most wonderful family who maybe, just maybe can somehow stay long enough to be here for the arrival of this little one too

~to be yet again as blissfully amazed, by how God can manage to put together someone as wonderful, individual, and perfect for our family, as I was when Aydin was born

Until then....ahhhh the waiting. Pregnancy is the hardest nine months of anticipation to get through ever!

Knitting...

2010-01-26T14:40:00.000-08:00

This is for me just so I don't forget (and so I can feel more successful with what I have already accomplished instead of just swamped with what I still have left). My "this" winter knitting list...

Done:

Gobs of hats for Aydin

1 Pair of mittens each for Aydin, Jesse, and myself

2 Pairs of hand warmers (1 needing to be re-made)

1 Successful hat for Michelle, and 1 unsuccessful hat for David

1 Scarf for Aydin

1 Hat for Jesse

1 Pair of mittens for Aydin to wear next winter (in progress)

Left to do:

4 More pairs of hand warmers (2 by request from David and Aydin)

3 Sort-of sweater dresses (so excited to start these)

1 Sweater for myself

1 More little pair of mittens

1 More pair of big mittens for a friend in Alaska

Phew... actually this makes me feel much better. Seeing it in list form makes me feel like maybe I will get all of this done this winter!

A Wonderful Holiday

2009-12-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas! Aydin is finally old enough to really get into it now. She helped us decorate (and re-re-re decorate) the tree. She got to pick out her own ornament this year too. She picked an ornament with three dogs sitting next to a fire hydrant barking "Jingle Bells." I am surprised the battery in that thing has any juice left. She even unwrapped her own presents.She climbed up into her own chair and unwrapped them in her lap one-at-a-time, handing us each piece of paper as she tore it off. She is pooped from all of the holiday action, we all are, but it has been wonderful. Levi and Danielle came down for an extra long time this time. We loved having them over. Ethan and Aydin play so well together, and we had a new baby to cuddle and enjoy too!Jesse has been off of work for one week, and has one more week off. I wish he could be home like this more often, but we'll take what we can get. I also started a project for this holiday season that has turned out to be quite a lot of fun. This is one of two pairs of hand warmers that I have made, and I have requests for many more. I don't know how many I'll make, but they are pretty fun!

P.S. Mexico pictures are on Facebook. I would do a blog for them but, call me lazy, posting that many pictures on here is just too much work.

Mexico

2009-12-01T07:15:00.001-08:00

We're back! Wow...that was a great vacation, but I'm glad to be home. We had so much fun! Aydin loved the beach, and even the sand, the fish, the freedom of being able to run around outside all day long...everything. She LOVED swiming, mostly in the ocean. We would take hunks of bread out into the water and dozens of fish would cluster around us to eat it. She thought it was great, as long as someone was holding her, and she would throw the bread to them. Any time she wanted to swim she would get her little raft and push it to the door. We spent most of our time swimming. There were a couple bouts of rain while we were there, but for the most part the weather was great. While on vacation Aydin learned to say "fish," "turtle," "moon," and "David (deah)." She can tell you what a fish says, and what a pig says. And she now knows where her "pink toes" are. She had her first pedicure by mom before we left, and she has completely enjoyed showing off her "pink toes." My favorite part of the trip was getting to watch Aydin bond with my family. She hasn't gotten to spend this much time with any of them before, and it was just what she needed to feel completely comfortable and close to them. She pretty much clung to my dad the whole time. No matter what she was doing with him she thought it was the greatest. And she had so much fun teasing uncle David the whole time. She would tap his shoulder and grin when he looked, and she thought it was histerical to wke him up on the airplane. She just found something with each of them that made her smile. I loved it! And I don't know if I can speak for Jesse, but I'll try. This was only his second vacation ever so I am betting the experience alone was fantastic in and of itself. But the thing I think he enjoyed the most was getting to spend so much time just playing with Aydin. Ayway, great vacation, glad to be home! Now if only Aydin's body would not wake her up at 6 AM thinking it's 7 AM. We didn't take our good camera, so we only got a couple of pictures, but David and Michelle were the photogrraphers for the vacation, so when I get pictures from them I will do a picture post.

Growing Up

2009-11-05T14:09:00.000-08:00

Aydin dancing in her diaper and beanie.

Well, it has been a while since I last posted on the incredible developmental leaps that our little girl is making lately and I have nothing else to blog about so here you go...

She is still a very tall girl... 95% for height and 60something% for weight, but she has slowed down a little. Her hair literally gets thicker everyday, althoug it still has a ways to go before we'll be able to "style" it. And she FINALLY is getting some more teeth. She had two teeth come in when she was ten months old, but we saw no sign of a tooth until just a few weeks ago. Two have already popped through making the grand total four, and we can see four more getting ready to pop out. Maybe she can really start eating real food now.

She is running now and climbing, dancing, and talking more and more everyday. She can say "mama, daddy, Abel, Aydin, up, down, ball, wow, bottle, woof", and most recently "no." I was hoping she wouldn't learn that last one for a while, but what can I do? Every time a dog comes near her now she says "down," I guess I tell Abel to lay down more than I realized. She knows where her nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and hair are, and she'll point to Abel's eyes, nose, and mouth too.

Best of all...she is going to bed peacefully now. She has always been good about staying asleep, but she has ALWAYS fought going to bed. I have never been able to just lay her down and have her fall asleep, she just plays in her crib. I rock her to sleep every night, and I do love rocking her, but she would always fight so hard to stay awake. She would kick me, and cry, and arch her back. Now she just relaxes and falls asleep in my arms. We got her on a pretty good schedule, bought an i-pod docking station for her room, and got a few longer books to read, and that is all it took. Wish we would have tried the schedule thing earlier but, call me dumb, I just didn't think of it. Oh well, things are going good now ( :

Playing at the Park

2009-10-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

Had a request for some video footage and we took this while we were at the park a week or so ago. She is fearless. She loves slides, the bigger the better! Just see for yourself...

First Snow

2009-10-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

The first snow of the season came October 10th! So early, but I LOVE it. This weather puts me in the mood to light a fire, make some hot cocoa, and get out the electric heat blanket. It also reminds me that I have precious little time to come up with a Halloween costume for Aydin. Jesse told me that since I picked last years costume for her, he gets to pick this years. He wants her to be a zombie... with a big gash on her head. No way! I settled for a mummy, no blood and gore that way. Now I have to figure out how to make mummy look cute. Hmmmm.

Anyway, first thing after breakfast Saturday morning, we got all bundled up to go play in the snow with Aydin for the first time. She was so excited about her snowsuit and snow boots. Not so excited about the snow. She took a few steps in it, bent down to brush it off of her boots, and then decided it was not for her. We threw a few snowballs, and helped her (forced her) to make a snow angel, and then we headed back inside. Not what I was expecting, but we have some time to get used to the stuff. Hopefully she will start liking it more as the season progresses.

Don't know if you can tell, but the snow angel is right below our feet in the bottom picture.

Fish Kisses

2009-10-01T13:41:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the last month. Oh, what a month... yada, yada, yada. So we decided to do some new stuff around here to freshen things up a bit. I painted the kitchen, I am re-doing Aydin's closet, and we decided to get Aydin a couple of goldfish. She loves them! She talks to them while she's eating breakfast, and she tries to hug the bowl.

What a Trip

2009-09-03T08:56:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our trip to see the Duerres in WA. We got home late last night. We had the best time. For starters, Aydin did great on the plane. Each trip I have to get up with her towards the end and walk the aisle a couple of times, and she did cry for a few minutes before she fell asleep, but other than that it was a breeze.

Sherry picked us up from the airport the morning we flew in and we of course went straight to the best thrift store I've ever been to, where I promptly spent nearly half my budget. Then we drove around Seattle and Queen Anne. Some of the houses there are amazing! This view of the city is the only view where the space needle is the tallest thing. It was also a very clear day so the view of Mt. Rainier was great (you can kind of see it behind Aydin.)

We all went to the farmers market at the harbor in Olympia. I think if we had one like that here it would be so fun to have a booth.

This is part of our hike at Tumwater Falls. So beautiful!

Aydin's had her first trip to the beach. It was so cold, but she is a water lover so she didn't want to get out.

And her first amusement park rides. She loved it, especially being on them with Brek and Sy.

Absolutely done after a few rides!

She started to think she was a big kid too.

The farmers market in Seattle was amazing. We also walked past the first Starbucks.

Needless to say we had such a great time. It was a long time to be gone from Jesse, but also don't think I would have wanted it to be any shorter. It flew by as it was. There is so much to do in WA, and with such great friends the trip couldn't have been better (unless Jesse could have come too)! I think we will have to plan another one out soon so that Jesse can see everything too.

Off We Go!!

2009-08-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Aydin and I are headed out to WA to see the Duerres! We leave tomorrow morning and won't be home for one whole week.

Aydin has been so much fun this past week. She decided last Tuesday that she was done with crawling. She has been strictly walking ever since. She even tries to run every once and a while, but she is still a little too wobbly. She keeps us laughing too! The other day she was standing up in the tub and after a little swat on the rear for it she looked up and said, "Oh wow!" Oh, and this...

Party Fun

2009-08-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

We had two birthday parties for Aydin. We had one early party so that the Duerre's and Aunt Michelle and Ryan would be able to attend before they left, and we had one for the family on her birthday. What that amounts to is a lot of fun for one little girl. She had such a great time at each party! Here are a few pictures...

Happy Birthday Aydin

2009-07-28T06:58:00.000-07:00

It hardly seems possible that my baby girl is already a year old. One year ago today I was holding my new baby girl in my arms and thinking that she was the most perfect baby that I had ever seen, hardly believing my luck that she could be mine, and so excited to get her home and be her mamma. And look at her now. Oh how much she has changed. Walking, talking, making jokes, and learning new things. Even while I miss that precious, chubby, baby who relied on me for everything and knew nothing but to trust that we would take care of her, I delight in every new step that she takes, and look forward to each new phase of her life. I can't even describe how joyous it has been to watch her develop into the little girl that she is today. Her personality continues to blossom and, and as it does she continues to make us smile at every little thing and laugh at all of her little jokes and the funny things she does. Oh, we are so blessed! Happy 1st Birthday Aydin!! We love you so much!

Mama's Little Helper

2009-07-01T11:56:00.000-07:00

Probably the biggest hurdle of motherhood yet is trying to figure out how I can get everything on my "to-do" list done. I have finally figured out that if I just let her help me, it might take longer (and I might have to re-do some stuff) but I can usually get it done. Chores are a little more fun now.

Moving Forward

2009-06-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

After a month or so of going, going, going, along with sickness and an emotional roller-coaster we are finally moving forward. Aydin for one is constantly on the go now, and has started walking (well if old people can call this walking then so can she). She will crawl right up to her alligator walker, pull herself up and take off. She can't really turn yet so she just pushes until it stops and then waits for us to turn her around. It is so much fun to watch her grow and develop. I am such a lucky mom!

And on the house front... here is a picture of the front of our new house.

We are finally under contract on a house that we love. It is a cozy 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a kitchen to die for ( : and fireplaces in the living room and master bedroom! I can't wait to move in. The only bummer about the place is that it is painted like the inside of Casa Bonita (red, orange, blue, purple, and yellow) Oh well, I would have wanted to paint anyway, now I just have a REALLY good excuse. Now we wait. It is a longer closing process for this house (45-60 days), but as long as we hang in there it's ours!

And here's one more video, just because I think this is so cute! He is such a great dog. We do love him (especially Aydin)! He got lots of praise and treats after this. (P.S. She likes to touch foreheads as a sign of affection. I don't know why, but she has been doing it since she was about 4 months old.)

P.P.S. Grandma and Grandpa Carlson: We are trying to think of a good time to take a trip up there to see you. We'll keep you posted ( :

"Sigh"

2009-05-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Trying to keep my head above water. That's pretty much how I feel right now. Aydin's been sick for the past three weeks from pink-eye, to a head cold, to the flu. Jesse and I have been sick. Abel too. We put a bid on a house yesterday. We were supposed to find out today if we got it. Today was crazy. Couldn't sleep last night... anticipating the call ... 4 chickens dead in their new "predator proof" pen this morning... crying, apologizing to them, cleaning up the mess... trying to work... Aydin's throwing up... all over... forget work... extra cuddle time with a sick baby, mmmm... Abe to the vet (with Aydin in tow) ahhh... Aydin's throwing up again... ALL OVER... cleaning the couch cushions ("crap is that bleach or couch cleaning solution in that bottle? We'll know soon enough")... yada, yada, yada... more throwing up... lost the bid... whatever... exhausted!

After a day like today this is what can still make me smile:

Mommy & Me @ the Cozy Cow Dairy

2009-05-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

We have started a mommy & me group at my church. There are about five moms so far, and we all meet every other Monday for some socializing for us and the kiddos. Today we went to a dairy in Windsor to watch the cows being milked and pet the calves and goats. The kids all had a great time! It was pretty fun, even for a 9 month old. I stood her up on the gate and she reached out right away to pet one of the calves. She loved the calves. She was also a big fan of the goats who were trying to eat her shoe laces. She actually started whining when I pulled her away from them. After seeing the milking process though, I have to say that it might be a while before I drink milk again. Something about it just rubbed me the wrong way (maybe it's because I'm a nursing mom, I don't know.)

9 Months

2009-04-30T08:00:00.001-07:00

9 months old now! Wow... that's all I can say. She is amazing. She has really taken off this past month. She is crawling all over the place now, and she'll even do it the "right way" if she's motivated. She pulls herself up onto EVERYTHING, and she is starting to walk a little with assistance. I think she looks like a drunken zombie when she walks (that's the first thing that came to mind when I saw her spaghetti jointed , wobbly walk. I don't even know if zombies can get drunk.) I think the biggest step we took last month was baby-proofing our living room. She hasn't quite figured out how to scale our one massive step yet so our living room is our safe place for her for now. I don't think it'll be to long before we have to get out the baby gate though, because she has figured out how to get up Grandma and Grandpa Hamilton's steps. And I think her new favorite thing might be swimming. She has so much fun at the pool. We have taken her a couple of times. She splashes and tries to stick her face in to drink the water. We got her a little "raft" thing and she just sits in there and kicks and laughs. I enrolled her in swimming lessons for this summer. I think she'll have so much fun with all of the other babies!

As hard as it can be sometimes to keep track of her now, we are enjoying every minute! I get a little sad when I think of how fast this has flown by, but the older she gets the more fun we have together and I love it!

Oh, and I have to say something about the picture above. Aydin LOVES Abe. Loves him! Abe TOLERATES Aydin. Tolerate is the best word for it. He does not love her, might not even like her, but he lets her do anything. She crawls all over him now, licks his fur (when mom's not looking), tries to touch his eyes and nose. He just lays there and pleads with us with his eyes. Sorry Abe! Someday they really will be best friends.

Sunny Day

2009-04-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday

2009-04-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful Easter Sunday! We had so much to celebrate: the resurrection of our Lord, my sister's engagement, and her and her fiancé's baptism. We celebrated accordingly. After Easter morning services we headed over to my parent's house for lunch. Michelle had a couple of friends over, and Ryan's (her fiance) mom came over as well to meet our family. We had such a good time.

Grandma Hamilton put together Aydin's 1st Easter basket. Mom and dad stole a lot of the goodies (chocolate) but she had a fun time pulling everything out.

She is moving around like crazy now! She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING, she can sit herself up, and she crawls so fast. She still just drags herself along like a wounded soldier though.

This is her smoochy face. She was doing this non-stop the whole way through JoAnn$ Fabrics the other day. So funny!

We helped out with Easter Marketplace at our church again this year. My sister helped at our booth too so we could do some stuff with Aydin.

Her first Easter egg hunt was a little sketchy. She was in the 0-3 year old section and was by far the youngest. One kid came over and sneaked an egg out from under her, and there was a clown who she was terrified of, but she got a few stuffed toys and stickers out of the deal.

And of course Grandma Williams got an Elvis impersonating Easter bunny who dances for her. It's ears move like crazy, it is super loud, and she LOVES it. When it's not "singing" and "dancing" she moves its ears herself.

P.S. I think I'm going to start a shop on ETSY and try to sell some owls. I figure I might as well make a couple and see if they sell. If not, Aydin will just have an owl family to play with ( : We'll see!

hoot, hoo

2009-04-09T09:51:00.001-07:00

I cooked up that owl in a frenzy of designing and sewing last night (and a little into the a.m. too) and I love it. When Aydin joined me in bed early this morning I put the owl above her so she would see it when she woke up. She was so excited. She put out her finger to touch it and then looked at me. She wouldn't touch it until I moved it closer to her. She loved the "feathers!" What a good way to wake up (I just wish it was a little later.)

Say Cheeeeese!

2009-04-03T07:41:00.000-07:00

This is the new "picture taking" smile these days. I love it! She is so much fun! She is so busy these days too. She is crawling all over the place now. The things that make her crawl the fastest: Abel, magazines, and her rocking horse. That rocking horse is her new absolute favorite thing. She will crawl to it and smack it and yell until we put her on it and she will sit there for a half hour at a time just grinning, rocking, and mumbling.

Breaking News

2009-03-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

She's CRAWLING!!!

Okay, I realize this isn't very far. This is only her second attempt, but she's been making good progress. I'll get another video after a little more practice ( :

A Little Catching Up

2009-03-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

I realize it has been a while since my last post. Sorry... Things have been going pretty good. Jesse is feeling much better! He has an appointment to get his brace off this Thursday. After that he will start therapy. He has been told that recovery could be long and painful though, so we'll see how it goes. He doesn't think he will be able to play softball this summer though.Boooo. I think I might try to talk him into going to watch anyway. I love visiting with all of the women who are supposed to be watching the game.

I have been trying to get more and more work done lately. It is hard to get work done at home when all I want to do is play with Aydin, but I think it's good for both of us for her to have some time to play by herself. I have been in a little bit of a funk lately. One of those "just don't feel like doing anything; stay at home in my p.j.s funks." My solution... getting my hair chopped. I always said I wasn't going to get a "mom-do" when I had a baby, but I NEVER wear it down anyway so I thought I would try something new. Umm, no pictures of me for a while.

Aydin... Oh my gosh where do I start. She is such a character lately. She can't wait to get moving. She is so close. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks. She actually did crawl in her sleep the other night. Any day now. I am also pretty sure she has said her first word. She will look at Jesse and say "da-da." She baby talks all the time now, but she has done this enough now that it isn't just random chance. She loves to watch T.V. upside down. She will lay on her back on the couch and push with her feet until her head is hanging off of the edge and just watch. She likes to try to eat the bubbles I blow for her in the bathtub. As they are coming off the wand she will open her mouth and lick the air trying to get them. She has no interest in touching them, just eating them. It is so funny I really wish I could get a video of this, but no luck yet. And I think she is finally teething for real. I can see four teeth in there, two on top and two on the bottom (like a beaver.) They haven't made much progress in the past three weeks, but I'm counting on them popping out anytime.

Okay, so one picture for Sherry, but I won't take one of the back because the back of my head really looks like the backside of a duck!

Aydin's 1st 6 Months

2009-02-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Jesse made this for me today; made me tear up a little.

5-5-5

2009-02-11T12:27:00.000-08:00

Sherry tagged me to post the fifth picture in my fifth picture folder and this is it. This is Jesse and my hike up Horstooth last spring. I was about five months pregnant with Aydin at the time.

I tag:
Bethany
Martha
Michelle
Marissa

Recovery

2009-02-06T22:53:00.000-08:00

The pictures below pretty much show what Jesse has been doing for the past seven days. He had surgery last Friday to re-attach his patella tendon to his patella. His surgery went well, but it was pretty invasive, so he ended up being a LOT more sore than he had expected. He's been feeling much better the past couple of days though . Anyway he is supposed to stay off of it for 2-3 weeks so he has been living on our couch. Aydin is loving all of the daddy/baby play time! Aydin has been trying some different foods the past couple of weeks. Her favorite: carrots. She is also a fan of blueberry and apples (as seen below.) I was a little afraid her face would be stained blue, but we got it all off eventually ( :And the following picture is totally random, but it's so cute I had to post it.

1/2 Year

2009-01-28T15:32:00.001-08:00

She's 6 months old now! 6 months is so much fun. Her personality has come out in full force now. She has been full of it since the day she was born, but it is so fun to watch it progress. She keeps us entertained for sure. She is sitting up, rolling back and forth, and talking! Last week she just started to get so vocal and laughing more. She also has figured out that if she rolls around enough she will eventually get to where she wants to be. She can't crawl yet so she just reaches and rolls back and forth until she's there. Hilarious!

I made this car seat cover a couple of weeks ago. I love it! I'm going to make another one for summer.

Right now I am getting the house all cleaned up and reorganized. Jesse has to have knee surgery on Friday, and I want it to be easy for him to get around. He tore his patella tendon from his knee cap playing basketball a week ago. He didn't think he'd really hurt it, just tweaked it, but after a doctor's office visit and an MRI it was confirmed. This is the first surgery he has ever been in, and it seems like it is fairly invasive, so we are a little nervous. The recovery requires two weeks home from work, 6-8 weeks in a brace that holds his leg straight, and who knows how long for rehab afterwards. This is going to be a little rough I think. On the funny side it's his right knee (and his leg has to stay straight) I am now the taxi driver...and he is so tall that we had to unbolt the front passenger seat just so he has enough room. We'll see how these next few weeks go.

Trip to Idaho

2009-01-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

We used to go to Idaho every other Christmas to visit my dad's family. We hadn't done that in a while so this year I decided to plan a trip up there. Obviously we couldn't go for Christmas (both of our families wanted to be a part of Aydin's first Christmas) but I thought an after Christmas trip might be a possibility. My dad rented a van and we packed up and left early, early on the 28th. The usual twelve hour trip (sometimes 10) ended up taking about 15 hours with the nursing and diaper changing stops, but Aydin was a real trooper. Aydin loved meeting all of the family members. She was such a happy baby the whole trip! She has been all about reaching out for stuff. Everything goes straight to her mouth.Before we left to come home we were able to drive to Kennewick, OR and meet up with Luke and Sherry and the kids!! We got there around five p.m. and had to leave the next day at noon, so we didn't have a lot of time together, but it was worth every minute of the long drive there and back to Nampa. When we got there we had dinner and then spent the rest of our night together trying to get the kids to sleep. ALL of them were too wired from the excitement of being in a new place together. The next day we, of course, got in some shopping! We had thought there wouldn't be much to do there, but they had a great mall. The navy coat and sunglasses from one of the above pictures were what we came away with. It was so great to see them again. We've missed them! It was one of those trip that I won't forget.
Since she has started sitting up she doesn't like her carrier car seat anymore because it doesn't let sit upright, so while we were in Kennewick we bought her a new car seat. She loved it!! She also loves her new bunny. She got this bunny for Christmas from Jesse's aunt, and she has been completely attached to it ever since. We give it to her when she is trying to fall asleep, and she'll stick the ear in her mouth and hold it until she's asleep. SO cute!

Christmas with Aydin

2008-12-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

Aydin's first Christmas was so much fun. She really seemed to enjoy it and did so well with all of the activity and driving. We spent Christmas morning with my family and then drove up to Arvada to spend the afternoon with Jesse's family, then back down to my parents house for the rest of the evening. She had so much fun tearing the bows off her presents and chewing on wrapping paper; I don't know why we even bought any presents for her, but she loved all of the books and toys that she got. As wonderful as Christmas always is, I think having a baby to share it with makes it so much better.

Update

2008-12-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

So at her 4 mo. appointment the doctor said that we need to start her on cereal. I know everyone has a different opinion about when that should happen, but I'm kind of on his side considering how fast she's growing. We gave her some rice cereal for the first time a little over a week ago. The first time and the next few times were pretty messy to say the least. I don't think any of the cereal actually made it to her stomach. It was everywhere!!!! But she LOVES it. She is doing so much better now; she eats pretty much all of what I put in her mouth. She still thinks it's funny to blow bubbles and spit just when I put a mouthful in which is a mess, but I kind of think it's funny too.

Also, she started rolling over last Monday. She goes from her back to her stomach, and we can't hardly keep her on her back anymore. She will roll over and then look at us with this huge smile like "did you just see that!?!" She is pretty proud of herself, as are we. We were wondering if the thunder thighs might hold her back, but nope. I have some video of it, but I haven't had time to figure out how to get it on here, so I'll try to work on that tonight and add it later.

She is starting to really like Abel now. He is a little (I mean a very little) bit more interested in her, but she lights up when he walks by and she'll reach out for him and grab his fur. He just watches her and waits until she's done abusing him with her loving hair pulling. They'll be the best of friends....someday.

Nap time is going to be in her crib from now on ) : and we are on our way to working on a transition from bassinet to crib at night too. I think we might try that next week. So sad, but she is getting way to big for the bassinet. She can't really stretch out like she likes to do in the morning anymore. I love having her sleeping next to me at night, but it has to happen sometime. I was just hoping we might have a couple more month of that left, but she's running out of room.

And now for a little news about someone other than Aydin: I am a college graduate FINALLY! I finished my last course about a month ago and grade are finally in the books. That felt like it took forever, but it is such a relief to be done.

Christmas Tree & ER Visit

2008-12-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

I'm still coming off my "scared mom" adrenaline high and I can't sleep so... Aydin had her 4 month check-up today; perfectly healthy, size of a 6 month old, shots, and all... 4 hrs. later she started wheezing. It started happening just when she got excited, but by nine she was doing it a lot. I called a friend from church who is a nurse and when she heard Aydin breathe she suggested a trip to the ER. I know the ER is just like a doctor's office that's open late, but the thought of having to take my baby there was so scary. Of course by the time we got there she was miraculously healed, smiling, cooing, and very excited about meeting all of the nice nurses and doctors. We got her all checked out, perfectly healthy with just a low, low, low grade fever. No idea what caused the wheezing (cough.shots.cough) I don't know.. she's not sick AT ALL what else could it be?

Anyway... we went out Sat. to cut down a Christmas tree. We got a great picture of us all bundled up and ready to go look for one...found the best tree ever...tried to take a picture...the batteries are completely dead...great. Anyway here it is, and now I know why people don't choose the cute scrawny ones; half of our ornament are too heavy. So we have a very droopy tree, but I still love it!!

1st Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

We went to my parent's house for Thanksgiving this year. Aydin was in a great mood the entire time. Amazing food + happy baby + family = a great Thanksgiving Day! She is so funny lately; she has found her voice. We have had a few laughs, and she "talks" all of the time. I tried to get it on video a couple of times, but she just looks at the camera and smiles (and stops talking) I'll keep trying though, I'm bound to catch her off guard some time.

Picture Post

2008-11-16T13:01:00.001-08:00

Finally sucking her thumb!!!

this could be SO bad

2008-11-07T06:39:00.001-08:00

This seems like a good place to ask for advice so... I tried to give her a bottle for the first time last night. Tried again this morning. When I put the bottle in her mouth she looked at me like I was crazy, and then made the most disgusted face. She wouldn't even close her mouth. It doesn't help that she would never take a pacifier. Did anyone else have this problem? What do I do. I really want to see the new Bond movie (and enjoy it without a crying baby sitting with the guy next to me!) HELP!

Halloween Costume

2008-11-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this costume. My mom made this for her in one night. She was the cutest little caterpillar. She had a ton of fun and got a lot of candy for mom and dad. Actually, I think she hates Halloween now after like ten costume changes and the party at the church. She hasn't been feeling well and all she wanted to do was go to bed. She is so congested. She has been sleeping in her car seat to keep her more upright. We've tried saline drops, and the snot sucker. Any other suggestions?

Teddy and Diapers Post

2008-10-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

We went through my baby keepsakes box last weekend. Fun, fun! I should actually post some then and now pictures of a couple of my favorite things, it is quite funny. Anyway, that teddy bear was my first teddy bear. I thought it would be fun to see what she thought of it (it has been washed!)

Also, we... I have been using cloth diapers for almost a month now. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be, not bad at all. We still use disposable diapers at night, and when we're out, but at home the cloth ones are easy. Jesse still hates the idea. He usually gets to change her after he gets home from work, and I have yet to see him bring her out with a new cloth diaper on. He's going to run out of excuses though: "Oh, I didn't think you wanted her to go to bed in one (6:30 P.M.)," "Weren't you going to run to the store with her?," "I couldn't find any (huge basket full right under the changing table)," and the best one... "I thought I would give her legs a rest, you're going to make her bowlegged!" Actually I am a little worried about that last one. Do you see how far apart her legs are? That can't really happen can it?

Heads Up

2008-10-17T15:51:00.000-07:00

Milestone

2008-10-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

This is a baby who just, for the first time, slept through the night... kind of. For those of you whose kids were sleeping through the night at 3 weeks this small celebration might seem a little much ( ; but I'm excited. There is this lady at church who I swear is magic. She just has a special touch. You put a crying baby in her arms and in minutes (s)he will be asleep. Anyway, yesterday at church I mentioned to her the conversation with doc. from the last blog, and that we were up to about 3 hrs. in between meals now. Yada, yada, yada... she looks at Aydin and says "you don't need to be eating that much." Like magic this is how our feeding schedule proceeded: 3.5 hrs. in between, 4.5 hrs., 3.5 hrs., and (drum roll......more drum roll.....) 6.5 hrs.!!! Unfortunately that chunk of time was from 8:30 pm to 3:00 am, so guess who was wide awake after her 3:00 am breakfast. Oh well, still excited.

Shots

2008-09-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Aydin had her 2 month check-up yesterday. With that comes her first round of shots. This is what she did all day after the appointment. She hasn't slept this much since the day she was born. I think we had maybe an hour total of awake and alert time all afternoon and evening. Poor girl! And below: I had to put her in it one time. Jesse LOVES it ( ; I think I will probably be asked not to take her out in public today with that on.

P.S. At her check-up she weighed 13lbs. 5oz., and was 24" long. She is >95% for height and weight right now. Doc. says she's "thriving." We also had a discussion about sleeping through the night. He says if I increase the time in between feedings during the day, she might eventually forget about that midnight feeding. Does it look like my daughter has ever forgotten about a feeding? Oh well, I think she's perfect.

2 Months...What?!?

2008-09-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

She's 2 months old now. We are having so much fun together. She is staying awake more in the daytime, which makes it hard to get anywork done, but she smiles so much now and has started really "talking"to us. She met a new friend last Sunday. One of my friends from church delivered her baby boy last Saturday night. He is so cute! Work is going well. I'm getting about 3 hours a day in. Sometimes I wish I could get a little more done, but I wouldn't give up working at home for anything right now. I mentioned to Jesse the idea of sticking with this for a while rather than teaching next year. I have been going back and forth on it a lot, but I love staying here with her so much. I'm leaning toward just keeping my sub license current and doing that here and there.

Yeah, those jeans are 3-6 month size. She really is growing fast. As of Monday she is 12 lbs. 8 oz. We go to the doctor next Monday for her 2 month check-up. I'm nervous for her for shots.

She has outgrown her baby bath tub. We would put it in the kitchen sink and fill it up a little bit, but the last time I did she kicked water out all over the kitchen floor. I had put ground oats in the bath, and Abe would wait for her to kick so he could lick the spots up off the floor. Anyway, we had to go buy this gigantic plastic baby tub that goes in shower. It takes up a lot of room, but since we don't have a regular bathtub this was about our only option.

We have been using the shower sprayer to rinse her off. It is so funny. I think she really likes it, but she is always surprised at first.

Abel is becoming more fond of her now. I am pretty sure he still wishes she was never born, but we're getting there.

We got to go to a Rockies game last weekend. The traffic there was so bad that we didn't make it until the 5th, but it was still fun.

It was fan appreciation night so there was a firework show after the game. It was amazing, probably one of the best shows I've ever been to! And it just happened to put her to sleep somehow which was icing on the cake ( :

Weekend Away

2008-09-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we were able to go up to Divide to spend some time with my Grandparents and Jesse's brother and his family. We got up there Thursday night and didn't have to leave until Sunday afternoon, so it was a nice longish getaway. Before I write anything else, the reason we went there: Levi and Jesse were bow-hunting for elk. Hunting for deer at Golden Bell Camp would be like murder. The deer there will eat out of your hands. Hunting for elk.... we'll just say, "better luck next year, or better buy deer tags!" Anyway, we had a good time and it was so nice to get out of the house. This was our first trip out of town since the kiddo was born and with her, Jesse's mom, and the dog riding along it seriously looked like we had packed for a two week long getaway.

The cousins with their matching outfits that we found at a thrift store, what are the chances.

6 weeks old now. Things she can do: She will just stare at you for forever, she is so attentive and she just looks right into your eyes, she smiles like crazy, and she has started cooing back at us and some of them sound like they are just on the verge of becoming giggles (I can't wait!!!)

This turtle is the first thing I've knitted for her!

1 Month Old

2008-08-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

I absolutely cannot believe that she is already a month old. This 1st month has gone by so fast it has kind of been a blur, but so much has happened in that one month that it seems like it should have been much longer. We went in on Monday for Aydin's one month check-up and she is doing great! She weighed 10 lbs, and was 22.5 inches long (8 lbs., 20 inches at birth). She is growing, growing, growing. She is starting to really fill out now with thunder thighs and a double chin, but lucky for her at her age that just means she is a healthy baby. She is also really starting to smile a lot. She started to smile a week ago, real smiles not gas... I'm sure of it!! Here are some pictures from her 1st month.

Aydin's 1st hike

1st trip to the zoo; the baby giraffe is only two weeks old.

One of the many smiles that are not the product of gas.

My Beautiful Baby

2008-08-14T20:38:00.001-07:00

1st Week

2008-08-06T13:36:00.001-07:00

Just thought I would post a quick random smattering of pictures of her first week home. The Walker Family Reunion for the 100,000 mower was last weekend so our first week was mostly napping, visiting dad at the lawn mower obstacle course and spending time at the reunion, eating, and napping.

Aydin Rose Williams

2008-07-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

I don't even know what to say right now. This has been the most incredible experience of my life. It just doesn't quite seem real yet that just a few days ago it was just Jesse and I, and now we're parents. She is so perfect! The funny thing is that now that she's here finally, it somehow seems like she always has been. Anyway, I know that what everyone really wants is to see more pictures so.....

Aydin Rose Williams, born July 28th at 3:51 am. 8 lbs. and 20 inches long.

Anytime Now...

2008-07-15T15:09:00.001-07:00

Went to the doc. today. Business as usual, everything is great, 1 out of 10 cm. (eye-roll) Oh well, that means nothing right? As promised to Sherry, here is what will more than likely be my last awkward belly pic. this go around. 37 Weeks.

Can I Please Have My Brain Back!?!

2008-07-10T03:58:00.000-07:00

This is a real symptom of pregnancy right, this total loss of brain power? I have been so forgetful and disconnected for most of this pregnancy, but it has been getting worse and worse lately. For instance, Jesse's birthday is July 8th. I completely forgot!! I was talking about it last week even; on the 4th Jesse said, "4 days until my birthday." I got out of bed that morning when he was getting ready for work, and called him at lunch and never said a thing about it. I saw the date all day long. This really is the kicker, I saw the pile of mail on the table when I got home from work and went through it. I tossed a birthday card from MY grandparents (who remembered his birthday) to him and watched him open it, and it still hadn't dawned on me. I just sat on the couch with him watching t.v. thinking, "my grandma is really with it to send his card early." Yeah. It wasn't until I asked him what was wrong (he wasn't himself at the moment, wonder why) and he said, "I don't know maybe just that me wife forgot that today is my birthday." Apparently the guys at work had brought a cake in for him. Oh, yeah, and one of the guys, who is currently on a Caribbean cruise, managed to take a little time out of his vacation to call that night and tell Jesse happy birthday. Lets just say I felt like throwing up all night. I can't believe I forgot!! It is the baby, right??

Update

2008-07-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

So just a quick update about the ultrasound today. Very good news... she is about 5 lbs. 13 oz. right now which I guess is in the 50%. The doctor thinks she should be around 71/2 -8 lbs. full term!!!!! I was sooo relieved to hear that. I think I could probably handle delivering a 71/2 lb. baby naturally, we'll see. Also, there is no extra amniotic fluid, everything looks great. He remeasured me this time and I measured between 35 and 36 weeks, which is what I am. I am wondering if her and I just had a huge growth spurt because I have only gained one lb. since my last appointment. It seems like the weight gain has been slowing down a lot lately. Other good news as well- drum roll please- she has hair!!! For those of you who don't know Jesse was practically bald until he was four. I can't believe she could see that in the ultrasound, but she showed us and sure enough. She said there was no telling how much, but it's there. Yes! And we had the tech double check, she is definately still a girl.

She's relieved too. I imagine her wiping her brow and saying, "phew!"

Giving Birth 101

2008-06-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Birthing class was last Saturday. We opted to take a one day, fast track Saturday class. I was a little apprehensive about going to a class to learn to breathe and pretend to be in labor in front of a bunch of strangers. I'm glad we went though. I can't say that I learned a whole lot. I've been reading the books, so a lot of it was a review, but there were definitely some things that I didn't know about. It was interesting to get to see and touch some of the stuff that they use though (eg. the epidural needle, aaaahhhh!) I also learned a few of the complications of pregnancy for which they will induce such as baby being too small or too big, and mom having too little or too much amniotic fluid, some of which are possibilities for me. So of course, me being the worrier that I am, this wasn't very reassuring and I am now convinced that tomorrow they are going to tell me that she is too big and I will have to be induced early (which would kill my hopes of trying for a natural delivery.) We go tomorrow for another ultrasound so I will post an update about that later. Anyway, I just keep telling myself that she will be here soon one way or another and it really doesn't matter which way. Wow, that was a big bunny trail. Anyway, the class was fine, the rooms are great!!! and I think I'm ready for this.

Her room is done now. I quit on the rug, it was going to take forever so I dropped it for now. Her wardrobe is getting bigger ( : A friend from church gave me a bunch of her daughter's too small clothes to borrow, and I hit a garage sale where I got a great deal on a ton of stuff. It's nice to be able to start making outfits. Before I had a lot of clothes, but not much that would really go together. The only thing that I still need to work on is pants for 0-3 mo. I can't find anything. Of course I mostly shop at thrift stores which can make it hard to find what you're looking for. They are great if you have nothing in mind, and terrible if you are looking for something specific. We're getting there.

Not much else going on right now. Our life pretty much revolves on getting the house ready for her arrival.

bigger, and bigGER, and BIGGER

2008-06-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

So throughout this whole pregnancy I've been joking around about how big she is going to be. Every time we get together with my brother-in-law and his wife (who is also expecting and due two weeks after me) Jesse's mom compares our stomachs and makes sure to mention that she thinks that mine will be the bigger baby. Well... now I am really starting to get worried. My last doctor's appointment was last Friday. I was 33 weeks and 3 days. The doctor pulls out the measuring tape, measures me, just looks at me for a few seconds and then says, "Well you're measuring at 37 weeks right now so I'm going to order an ultrasound." My first thought was, "I get to see her again!" but now I really am a little scared. If it keeps up like this, when I go in for the ultrasound in two weeks I'll be measuring around 39 weeks. What does that mean? Is she developmentally that far along and could be here then, or is she just big? Mostly I'm sacred that I'll have to be induced, or have to have a c-section if she is too big for me to deliver. I really, really don't want either. I guess I'll know more in two weeks. We go for our childbirth class next weekend. That should be interesting.

On a lighter note- we went canoing yesterday. It was a perfect day. We took Abe with us too. Last summer he liked the canoe, but we couldn't get him to swim. Well this time we took the canoe to a little beach on the other side of the lake for lunch. After lunch we got Abe to go in the water and he immediately got in and started swimming out. It took him a little while to figure out how to swim without breathing water, but after he got it he really had fun. We are so proud ( :

From My Point of View

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

This my view down right now. When I first started showing I remember someone saying, "just wait until you can't see your feet anymore." I thought, "whatever... I'm sure I'll still be able to see my feet when I get big." Well here I am, about 34 weeks along, and I can't see my feet when I look straight down. Everyday a new experience!

There is not much to update as far as the pregnancy goes, still measuring two weeks ahead (I double checked the due date, it's right she's just big I guess.) Moving right along and getting more excited everyday. This whole pregnancy I have pretty much been crazy about getting everything ready way in advance. Right now we are debating cloth diapers. We got these cute little g diapers, which are a cover that you can put a little flushable insert into. They are so cute, but the little flushable inserts are like twice the price of regular diapers. Lately I've been thinking, "what if we use the flushable ones when we're on the go, and get cloth inserts for at home?" I know CRAZY, but it just might work. We'll see if after she is born this lasts more than a couple of weeks.

And just for Janaque, pictures of the nursery in it's final stages. I have pretty much finished decorating it except for a rug that I am working on to cover that ugly carpet.

Shower

2008-05-20T16:11:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday a couple of great friends threw a baby shower for me. They had decorated to match the theme of the nursery, and since it was at 10:30 in the morning they had muffins, fruit, banana bread, coffee cake, parfait... it was perfect!! There was a great turn out. I think what I appreciate the most is being reminded of what a supportive, loving church family I have. Apart from that they came with so much great stuff for Aydin. She will not be lacking for clothes, that's for sure! I had so much fun coming home and organizing. I love getting everything put away and ready to use (not that I will need to for a little while longer.) The best thing is that after I got everything put away, I started thinking of things that we still actually need and the list is VERY short. We have been so blessed!

Random

2008-05-05T05:25:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to go hiking ever since it started getting warmer out. Jesse does not enjoy hiking as much as I do, so it's kind of hard to get him to take me. Up until yesterday the excuse was that it was still snowy on the trails in the mountains, and we've been pretty busy on our weekends. Yesterday he finally gave in and we decided to go up Horsetooth. It was harder than I thought it would be with the extra 20 lbs. and my complete loss of any agility that I might have previously had, but I made it to the top of the rock, and it was such a great view. Jesse was so great, especially for someone who doesn't enjoy hiking anyway. He waited up for me, pretended like I was actually moving at a normal pace, and helped me up any big rocks. I think we both had a pretty good time.

27 weeks now, only 13 to go!! I am starting to get really anxious. It's not at all that I'm uncomfortable and just want it to be over, I'm just really excited to actually see her. I'm also already beginning to think about how hard it will be (I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way but...) to have to share her with other people, excluding Jesse. I have felt bad for him this whole pregnancy because he has missed out on so much already, so I can't wait for him to get to start enjoying her too.

Anyway, on another note I have definitely begun nesting. From early on in the pregnancy I thought maybe I had this going on a little, but it was nothing like the past week. I think I might have a stronger nesting instinct than anyone on the planet. My Goodwill pile gets bigger daily with random things that we may or may not need, but are in my way at the time. I think I might be driving Jesse crazy. He has had to pull a couple of things out of that Goodwill pile, and he keeps complaining that he can't find his stuff after I've reorganized. His "to do before baby" list keeps growing too, with things like painting the kitchen and cleaning the carpets, pretty miserable stuff. Again, he has been so great about it but I'm sure that he will be totally relieved when this phase is over.

Ahhhh, Sleep!

2008-04-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

The last couple of nights I finally decided to ignore all of the warnings on the websites, in the books, and from my doctor and just go ahead and sleep on my back. You know what happened... nothing, except I slept great all night long (minus my usual early morning trip to the bathroom.) I feel so great this morning.

Hormonal Finally??

2008-04-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know what is going on lately. Throughout this pregnancy I think I have been pretty emotional normal (no hormonal craziness) but I have been so grumpy and easily irritated this past week or so. I keep nagging Jesse about stupid stuff that I would never even care about usually such as: "why, after I just did laundry is there a sock on the floor?" or "can't you keep Abel away from me while I'm eating, his breath is terrible?" Jesse has been a champ about it though. I think he knows that this is not really me, and I'll be back soon. Pre-pregnancy he might have asked what has been wrong with me lately... no need to ask now. I have finally gotten to the point where I can say, "I don't have anything to wear" and for the first time IN MY LIFE it is actually true. I broke down and bought a pair of pants with a panel in them the other day. I hate how that stupid panel looks, but they are sooo comfortable! Oh, and one more reason for the monster that comes out every so often - lack of sleep. I cannot get comfortable. I have tried the pillow between my knees, and it helps, but if anyone has any other fabulous suggestions please share. Please!!

Nursery Decor

2008-04-02T06:31:00.001-07:00

I have been working lately on the crib set that I am making for the nursery (instead of doing schoolwork) and I finally finished the bumper, the crib skirt, and the blanket. So I thought I would take this opportunity to show it off a little, because I am pretty proud of myself. They turned out so much better than I had thought they would. I am so excited to finish decorating the nursery. I think this is all I am going to do for now though, until I finish my classes. I still want to make curtains, a diaper holder, and hang pictures from the book that inspired this, but I've got plenty of time. Originally I had said that I wouldn't even start until my classes were finished, but.....

Meet Aydin Rose

2008-03-16T21:14:00.001-07:00

We found out on Friday that we are having a little girl!!!! We are so excited. We would have been just as excited if she was a boy, but she's not. Jesse said "great, I'm going to have to start saving right now for the high school years." I'm thinkin' better start saving for right now, because I need to go on a baby girl shopping spree.

Not only do we know that baby is a girl, but also that she seems to be perfectly healthy and growing, growing, growing (as am I.) The doc said she was 14 oz. When she said this I was a little freaked out. I am already anxious about her being big because of how big Jesse was when he was born (9lbs. 15 oz.) So when I told her that the websites are saying that "baby" should be an average of 8-10 oz. she smiled and said, "12-14 oz. is normal." Phew!! Still a little anxious, but not as worried as I initially was. I think I need to stop reading those websites. They were all saying that I should have gained an average of about 8-10 lbs. by now too. Not so. I've gained a little more than that, not much, but enough that I think that those sites are stupid now. I'm just going to be a selective reader now and skip over all of that "average" stuff. Good news (knock on wood) no stretch marks. I woke up the other day with red lines all up and down my belly and I freaked out a little until I woke up enough to realize they were just sleep lines from my sheets.

Anyway, here are some pictures I'm sure you're dying to see ( :Above is a picture of her nose and mouth.

Countdown

2008-03-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

I know that no one else cares that much about the countdown to when we find out about the gender of our child, but I am seriously excited. As of right now we find out in eight days and three hours!!! I think I'm going to need to set aside a block of time to go buy some gender specific clothes after the doc's appointment ( : Jesse will be with me though, so we'll see if that actually happens. He doesn't think our kids will actually wear any of the stuff I am buying right now, but I don't think he realizes how many outfits a kid can go through in one day. We will need MUCH more than what I have so far! Also, I am now 100% sure that what I was feeling before was the baby. The little bubble feelings are getting much stronger now, so there's no question. It is so cool!

Anyway, just one week left of my long term sub job. While it has been a good experience, I am glad it's almost done. I will still have to get through one week of CSAPs, but the teacher who I have been replacing will be back for that last week of them. There is not much else going on, but I thought a quick update was in order.

Goodbye Jack

2008-02-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday Jesse and I drove up to Golden, Co and dropped Jack off at the Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies. We had finally decided that this would be the best thing for our enlarging family, but it was probably one of the hardest things that I've done. We were both crying as we left the rescue. I watched Jack as the door closed, and he looked so confused. I know that they will take good care of him, and they do a great job of placing dogs in good homes, but it is still so sad. I'm really going to miss him. He really was such a sweet, cute dog. Abel seems to be doing okay so far. He has walked around the house a few times looking for Jack; he's also been a little mopier than usual, but we had him for a year before we got Jack so I think he'll readjust just fine. As hard as this is, and as much as I would like to go back and get him, I still think that this was the right decision.

On a happier note, only three more weeks until we find out what the baby is. I know it is a little ridiculous to be counting down like this, but I am so excited. I've had three dreams that we had a boy, but my mom says that this only means that the baby is a girl for sure. We'll see. The baby is getting bigger, and so am I. I think in the last couple weeks my "bump" has really popped out. My stomach is starting to feel a little tight, and my jeans are too. I wore a pair this morning that had just come out of the dryer, oh my gosh! I don't think I'll be able to wash my jeans anymore or I won't even be able to get them on soon. I bought one of those bellabands online a few weeks ago and I love it! I have already worn it a lot at school. Most of my teaching pants wont zip up anymore since they sit higher on my waist, so I can't wear them without the band. This picture is me at 16.5 weeks.

Quick Note

2008-02-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

I had my 16 week appointment yesterday. I had to see a new doctor since Dr. Sokolowski was unavailable for any of the days that I could make it. I ended up seeing Dr. Bader and he was great! I think I actually like him better. He was just so friendly. I actually scheduled my next appointment with him too. I felt bad about switching, but yet again Dr. S wasn't going to be available. My mom came with me this time so that she could hear the heartbeat. The heartbeat sounded the same, but we could hear the baby moving too. It was neat; I asked if I should be able to feel the baby and although he said not yet, I swear I feel something moving in here. Could be gas I guess.

Well March 14th is the big 20 week appointment. I am so excited to find out what were having! There is absolutely no way that I could wait 5 more months. When I scheduled the ultrasound I got the "how to be prepared" sheet. The check out lady highlighted the part that says I have to drink TONS of water within an hour of the ultrasound, and then she highlighted a part that said to bring in a dvd-r disc if we want a video. We can actually get a recording of the whole ultrasound!!!! It's going to be so cool to be able to show it to Grandmas, and see if they can guess what we're having.

To answer the questions about the soon to be 1 dog: Jack is on his way out. I think we are going to surrender him to a Golden Retriever Rescue. They seem to be pretty careful about who they adopt dogs to. Anyway, he is really sweet, but he keeps marking stuff in the house. I think he has psychological problems from being abandoned. Abe is going to miss him soooo much though. They really are best friends. I just can't handle the pee, especially when we buy a house.

2008 Getting to Know You

2008-02-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

1. What is your occupation? Teacher (Sub for now)
2. What color are your socks right now? White
3. What are you listening to right now? Silence (I'm at school, this doesn't happen much)
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Pasta
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Brown; doesn't stand out to much, can't do without it, and I look good in it
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Jesse
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Absolutely!
9. How old are you today? 24
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes, and it was a terrible experience
13. Pets? 2 dogs, possibly 1 in the near future
14. Favorite food? That's hard to answer because so many foods are my favorite right now
15. Last movie you watched? Brave One (Jesse's pick, I can't stand Jodie Foster)
16. Favorite Day of the Year? Christmas!
17. What do you do to vent anger? Sit Jesse down and just talk about it until I start to feel better (I don't think he likes it, and I'm not sure he is always listening, but it helps)
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Polly Pocket, and My Little Ponies
19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring
20. Hugs or kisses? Both from Jesse
21. Cherry or Blueberry? Pineapple
22. Do you want your friends to do this? If they have the time
23. Who is most likely to respond? Sherry
24. Who is least likely to respond? Don't know
25. Living arrangements? Jesse, me, two dogs, and soon to be baby
26. When was the last time you cried? Dec. at a Hallmark commercial while my pregnancy hormones were raging
27. What is on the floor of your closet? A bin of sweaters and a laundry basket
30. Favorite smell? Don't know, but there are a lot of smells I don't like!
31. What inspires you? Having time to do the things I would be inspired to do
32. What are you afraid of? Spiders
33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Cheese
34. Favorite car? Love the Outback, but if I had $$$ a Range Rover
35. Number of keys on your key ring? 5
36. How many years at your current job? I wish
37. Favorite day of the week? Sat. when Jesse and I have a chance to relax together
38. How many states have you lived in? 2, CO and ID
39. How many countries have you been to? USA, Mexico, and Canada.
40. Who do you find sexy? Jesse
41. Who or what repulses you? Kids eating boogers; even happens in 6th grade and I have to look away every time so I don't puke
42. What do you do well? Crafty stuff
43. What do you do badly? Getting homework done
44. If you could change your name, what would it be? Don't know
45. What have you learned from life? Enjoy the present, and don't spend too much time worrying about the future

The Unexpected

2008-01-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

I applied for a long term sub job before Christmas, and after not hearing anything about it all break I was kinda thinking that I didn't get it. However, I got a call the week after break was over and it was the principal calling to let me know that if I wanted it the job was mine. I am going to be teaching for about ten weeks for a teacher who is going on maternity leave. I didn't know until last week that the teacher is due January 26th and was planning to teach up until the baby came. I met with her last Thursday to go over some stuff, but this was during class, so we only got some time to talk while the kids were working (about a 1/2 hour total.) I left feeling like I still really didn't know what I was going to be doing while I was there, but she told me that we would be able to get together sometime this week.

Anyway, that was Thursday. I got a message from that teacher on Saturday saying that she was going to be induced on Tuesday, so she would need me to start teaching then. Aaaaahhhhh! I was totally freaking out after hearing that because I wasn't ready. Anyway, I went to lunch with her today to go over some more stuff. I now feel much more prepared and I am a lot less nervous. This is a week earlier that I expected to be teaching, but I think it is going to be a great time. I'm really looking forward to it. I am not looking forward to having to get up super early, but I guess I'll get used to it, and I'm not going to get any sympathy from Jesse who has to get up at 5:00 every morning.

In other news, we went for our second doctor appointment last week and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. The doctor wasn't sure if we would be able to hear it because I was only 11 weeks and a couple days along and she thought that it might be a little to early. Anyway, after moving the thing around for a little while she finally found the heartbeat. It was great to finally hear it. We had seen the heartbeat on the ultrasound four weeks ago, so we knew we had a healthy baby, but hearing the heartbeat was still a little bit of a relief. Just further assurance that everything is going great and the baby is fine. So far it seems like things are going by pretty fast. Just eight weeks and we get to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. Also, I am definitely sporting a bump now. I don't think it is very noticeable yet, but my pants are starting to get a little tight and it looks a little like I ate to much.

Nursery

2008-01-14T19:07:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, we have a while to go and it is a little early to be setting up the nursery.

I worked at the Fort Collins Country Club running a kids summer camp the last two summers. I baby sit every so often for one of the families from the camp, and a year ago the mom mentioned that whenever I had a kid they would probably have some stuff that I could use. Anyway, after we found out that we are expecting I gave her a call to see if they had anything sitting around that we might make an offer on. Yada, yada, yada, we went on Saturday to see the stuff and pack up anything we wanted. In exchange, she asked me to baby sit for a weekend in April.

I don't think these people know how much they blessed us. We got there and she had everything out that she wanted to give me. This included a solid wood crib and dresser, a changing table, a Pottery Barn bassinet, a Pottery Barn crib set (for a girl), a Madella electric breast pump, a Baby Bjorn baby carrier, a high chair, some toys, a couple diaper bags, a baby bath, and a stroller and car seat. Unbelievable.

So, we were so excited to check everything out that we decided to set up the nursery as soon as we got home. I know it's really early, but I think it will be nice to have it all done so that when I get BIG and it gets really hot outside I'll be thanking Jesse and myself. Anyway, I am posting some pictures of our new nursery. It will look much better once we decorate and get a rug in there to cover some of the ugly blue carpet, but I'm not ready to decorate yet. My goal is to have my classes finished before I take on that project.