Jack's Birth

Here's Jack's story...
I woke up on December 22nd around 5:30ish in the morning and noticed I was having very light contractions about every 15 minutes or so. Throughout the day the contractions moved to every five minutes and got stronger and stronger. I mostly just hung out with my family, took a shower, watched a movie. The contractions started getting to where I wanted to be upstairs in my room and be quiet. David called our doula around 1pm and she was here by 2pm to help out. I labored at home until about 6pm and then decided to go to the hospital. Once I got to the hospital, things were really going and Jack was born at 7:27pm. I won't give all the gory details right now, but am open to tell the full story to those who want to know. I will say giving birth was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Yet, it's so worth it. I am so happy to be Jack's Mom.

All that work is so worth it!

Proud Dada

My sister, Christie. David was joking that this could be my "after" shot. Look how great I look after giving birth! ha ha! If only!

My Mom aka Nana

My Dad aka Abba and big sister, Lily

Our Family

Jack is here!

For those of you who follow my husband's blog, you know that Jack is here!!
He was born on December 22nd at 7:27pm. He was 8lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long.
I'll give more details on the birth and more pictures as I get settled into my new life.

Still Preggers

Sorry for not posting earlier today. My parents came in today and was busy hanging out with them. I am still pregnant. Ho hum. When when when will this baby come? My official official due date is Tuesday. It was the 24th on paper, then the nurse said it's more like the 23rd from the ultrasound. I'm feeling lots and lots of pressure and I get twinges, but no contractions yet. Maybe tonight??

Still Awaiting...

Well, still pregnant. I was really really hoping for a Dec 19th baby as that is the birthday of a couple of my friends. Happy Birthday Karen and Kyle!
I'm feeling pressure and the baby has moved down, but no labor yet. My parents come in tomorrow morning, so they will most likely be here when this little guy comes. Unless he wants to come tonight with an easy/fast labor!

No Baby Yet

Just to let you know, no baby yet. I'm feeling lots and lots of pressure (no real pain though) and the baby has definitely dropped down. My sister, Christie is here now and I plan on just running around with her today in hopes that may bring on some labor?
Come baby come!!

Santa and 39 weeks

Today Lily got to visit with Santa. She was very excited to see him. She willingly got up and sat on his lap, but it did take us awhile to get to her smile. This was the best we got. Sorry for the quality, this is a picture of a picture - I didn't get the CD this time.

And this is me at 39 weeks. Still pregnant as of right now. Send me wishes to have this little guy by this weekend!!

Shrek the Musical

Just posting a bit for my buddy, Josh Prince. He is the choreographer for Shrek the Musical in NYC and Seattle. Check him out here.
If you have a chance to see the show, please do! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to see this unless it travels to Denver. Perhaps if the show runs for awhile I can get a vacation with the hubby in NYC and have a night on the town! I have never really been to NYC and am fascinated with the city. David is probably sick of me talking about wanting to go. I have dreams about NYC all the time too. I'm convinced I lived there in a previous life. The closest I came to seeing the city (in this lifetime) was flying through JFK airport.

Josh, I promise one day I will actually come visit you in the Big Apple!

Maybe Later...

David was working on placing some paperbacks on PaperbackSwap the other day. Lily found the box of books and decided to take one for herself. She took the book, got herself up onto the couch and pretended to read. It was very cute! Check out the title "The Killer Angels". Hrmm, a bit mature for her? David tells me this book is about the Battle of Gettysburg. Okay, a historical novel. Hold on Lily, there will be time enough for those books. Let's stick with The Very Hungry Caterpillar for now.

Happy Birthday Zach and Ian

Lily has two friends with Birthdays in December.

Happy Birthday to Zach who is turning two on the 13th! (this pic is a bit older, taken this last Spring)

Happy Birthday to Ian who is turning the big one on the 12th! Ian and Mommy Melanie this last weekend at our cookie party.

Pics and Stories

I finally downloaded some pictures from the last few days.

This last weekend we had a Cookie Exchange. I was bad about taking pictures. I thought this was a cute one though. Some of the kids decided to take a swing! It was actually semi warm outside that day.

Lily helping David put Baby #2's crib together. She loves to help her Daddy. I'm thinking of looking for a tool set for this one!

Before nap time, Lily decided to read Mommy a story. She got up here all by herself and read the entire book.

After nap time, Lily brought down some friends.

38 weeks plus! I'm totally ready to have this baby.

Oh so very Pregnant

Sorry for not posting in awhile. I do have some pictures to share and stories to tell, but the husband has been using the camera to sell some items on Craig's list and I'm not quite sure where the camera is at the moment.

I'm so very ready to have this baby now. I have entered the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. I feel ginormous and many tasks feel like they take twice as much work as the non-pregnant Jen. I can no longer carry Lily around without pain. I can pick her up quickly, but no holding her for more than a few seconds. She's quite independent with getting around these days, so that helps. She goes up and down the stairs without my help and really the only time I need to pick her up is to put her to bed and put her in her chair to eat.

Perhaps my next post will be to share pictures of Baby #2??

It's Spring! No, It's Winter! No, It's Spring!

We are having some silly weather here in Colorado.
Last week was quite mild in the 50s and 60s. Over Thanksgiving weekend it was fairly cold and we got BIG OLE snow on Sunday. Today it's back in the 60s.
David and Lily made a snowman yesterday and today he has already mostly melted. This is what I like about Colorado - the little breaks of warmth you get during winter. (Yea, not so much a winter person. I like me some warmth!)

From our back porch

Lily's 1st snowman!

Maya got in on the action too!

Yeah snow!

Baby #2 Room

David worked really hard yesterday painting and putting together a crib for Baby #2's room. Here is a sneak peak.

I'm in love with blue and brown together. Just hope the little one really is a boy!! David came up with the idea of stripes and they turned out great! It's a good thing he is a perfectionist. I am not and would probably have had some interesting "vertical" stripes had I been the one to paint.

This room used to be green and we called it "the green room". If you click on the picture, you can see the green on the insides of the window. We are debating if we make that blue or white. Bye bye "Green Room"

Unfortunately the crib was not what we thought. The side railing doesn't come down and with me being a bit shorter, I'm not sure if that will work out for my back. I'm debating on contacting Target to see how we'd return something we already put together. If anyone had a crib out there and didn't lower the sides at all, let me know how that worked for you!

Thanksgiving Pics

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year. Very simple and laid back. This is exactly what I needed.

Lily with her Grandma. Grandma held Lily while David and I got dinner ready.

Lily hung out with Grandpa after dinner!

Family pics. Darn, I didn't get one with just David, Lily and me. Pregger brain! ha ha

The day of Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Today I am thankful for many things. I feel very fortunate with the life I have.

I'm thankful for:

My Family
David: I love sharing my life with you. You are my best friend and I can't imagine life without you!

Lily: You are one of the coolest people I know. You are so sweet and lovable. I love you more than I could have ever imagined.

Baby to come: I'm so excited to meet you and welcome you into our family. Love you!

Parents: You are the best parents anyone could ask for. You just love your family no matter what and I hope that I can be just like you with my kids.

Siblings: I'm so lucky to have all of you! Life would be quite duller if you weren't in it. I love when we are all together and I can't wait to see everyone again.

And to all my extended family, love you lots!

My Friends
I am so blessed to have many really great people in my life. If I could see all of my friends all of the time, that would be awesome. I'm grateful for the internet to keep in touch with those of you who live far away. *hugs*

People are what make my life. I am grateful for the things I do have, but they do not compare to the people. I hope all of those whom I know, whom I have bumped into, whom I haven't met yet have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Day Prep

Lily helping me make homemade rolls!

Today I am prepping for Thanksgiving. I have my homemade rolls rising and will bake them in about 2 hours. I am cleaning the house (with the help of my awesome husband). I'm also starting to feel a bit tired, okay, exhausted. Being 36 weeks pregnant with a huge belly and chasing an almost two year old around is quite tiring. Lily is going through this phase of whining/crying when asking for things. Oh no! We must put a stop to this now. I told her today that when she whines/cries, I will be leaving the room until she can ask me nicely. It worked this morning, so perhaps she will learn soon that whining gets no where in this house!

Anyways...Thanksgiving tomorrow will be nice and simple. We have a simple menu and only my in-laws will be joining us. Had I been thinking ahead, I really would have preferred to go out to eat somewhere. I have almost never thought that would be fun to do on Thanksgiving. I normally enjoy all the cooking and family and friends coming over. It just seems a bit much this year. Thankfully, David enjoys cooking and will be doing most of it tomorrow. Thanks husband!

School Days

Lily had school today and I'm happy to report that the last three weeks have gone great. She shows up to school and will go play without any tears! Hip hip hooray!

David and I got to hang out today. We went to the hospital to pre-register. I know myself in labor and this lady is not signing paperwork while in labor. So, happy to have that completed. Then we ran a few errands and had lunch at La Baguette.

Last night I had my monthly bookclub. We read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I haven't completely finished the book, but I know the story from watching the miniseries with hunka hunka Colin Firth. I was a Jane virgin and may pick up a few more of her books. I hear Mansfield Park is a good one.
I'm contemplating reading the Twilight series as several of my friends are raving about it. It took me quite awhile to read Harry Potter. I think the 4th book was out before I actually started. So, perhaps Twilight will be like that for me too. I'll think "What took me so long?"

No big plans this weekend. I do get to hang out with some of the girl friends on Sunday for coffee and I'm looking forward to that. I haven't hung out with them in a good long time.

Sorry no new pictures. Although, I did promise my friend Nicole a picture of me at the end of my pregnancy with Lily.
Here ya go Nic - Check out that Lily ball! ha ha!

Warm Days

The last couple of days have been so warm here! Today the highs are in the 70s. What? In Mid-November? Welcome to Colorado! Anyhoo. Yesterday Lily and I played out on the porch with bubbles. Today we went to the park. I actually sought out some shade as I started to get sweaty. I even took our dog, Maya to the park today and wore her out by throwing the ball for her. A bit of a challenge with a toddler and a ball crazy dog, but we got through it.

Excuse the no-pants. Lily enjoys her afternoons sans pants. She will say "Legs?" when requesting to be pant-less.

I have been really bad about belly shots this pregnancy. This is me today at 35 weeks!

Hanging out at home

I feel like the last few weeks/months have been a roller coaster with health. I got hit with food poisoning this weekend. Thursday night David and I went out to dinner and I think I got something bad. I was sick all that night and all Friday. Still not feeling the best today, but am able to keep food down and I'm up and about.

David is having guy night tonight. Lily is in bed and the house is nice and quiet. Doesn't happen too often around here. I have a few administrative things to work on, then I think I may try to watch a movie.

Last Tuesday, Lily and I went to Subway. She loves their ham and cheese.

After Subway, we went to the park! Lily could be on the swings for hours if we let her.

I finished my blanket! This was a simple knitted square pattern. I originally bought this yarn when I first found out I was pregnant. At that time, I didn't know I was having a boy and I think this looks too girlie, so I may give this one to Lily and make baby boy one down the road. I have plenty of knitted blankets that he won't be in need.

Finally feeling normal again

Today I finally feel normal. The last few days have been a bit crazy. Saturday night I had a Mom's Night Out with a couple of my girl friends. We went to Rock Bottom and had a really nice time. I come home that night to find out Lily had been getting sick once an hour since about 6:30pm. She continued to get sick once an hour until 6am. We were a fairly mellow family on Sunday. Then I had insomnia on Sunday night. Therefore, Monday was a very hard day for me. I was so very tired all day long. I finally got some sleep last night. I feel like a person again!

Just showing off my latte skills again. My foaming skills are so varied. One day it's awesome, the other, not so much. I still don't know how to make it consistently foamy.

Since David and I are big coffee drinkers, Lily like to pretend she is having her coffee too. We give her an espresso cup, fill it with foam and she has a ball.

I bought myself a new baby sling. It holds kiddos up to 35lbs. David tried it out for me and Lily seemed to enjoy it! I plan to use this quite often with Baby #2!

These are pics from my Mom's Night Out on Saturday:

Tonya and Denise


Sabrina and Tonya

Kristi and Nicole

Nicole and me

Don't you love girlfriend pictures? We can never be alone in the picture, must have a friend to get a picture. hee hee!

Scratching Backs and Coco Ryan

A few weeks ago I gave Lily a little back rub/scratch. Now she requests them. Every day! She asks "Scratch back?" I love love love back massages, so I can't blame her. The other day I was attempting to do my prenatal yoga while Lily was awake. On a few of my poses, she scratched my back! Sweet girl. The rest of the time, I was a jungle gym. So, no more yoga with awake child.

Lily is speaking really well lately. She is putting more and more words together. When she wants something, she puts the color of the object along with with name of the object. She may ask for her "white blanket" or "pink spoon" or "red Elmo" or "purple shirt". She is also using more verbs/nouns together. I came downstairs the other morning and had just washed my hair. Lily asked "Wash hair?" The best was when I was making coffee and making quite a bit of noise in the process. Lily asked "Mama, doing?" I'm really enjoying this stage with Lily. It's like having a little buddy around whom you can actually interact with now! That being said, I still need my adult time and sometimes miss it greatly during the day. Thank goodness for playgroups and bookclubs and going out. Speaking of, a couple of my girl friends are taking me out this Saturday to celebrate the up and coming birth of Baby #2! I can't wait!!


This is David's good buddy, Ryan. He stopped by this weekend. Lily calls him "Uncle Ryan" but sounds like "Coco Ryan" to me. So, Ryan, this is your new name: Coco Ryan! Lily was fascinated with Coco Ryan's phone and was reluctant to return it.

I'm feeling pretty good right now. I'm 33 weeks pregnant. This pregnancy is flying by. My only symptoms right now are feeling like a walking watermelon and insomnia. So, if anyone is up between 3am to 5am, I may be up with you!

YES WE CAN!

I must admit I am enormously relieved by the choice America made last night. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I didn't realize this weight was there until 9pm MST last night when I found out my next President will be Barack Obama. I have new found hope for our country to turn around and fix many many problems of the last 8 years. I know not all my friends were supporters and please know that I believe you will find Obama to be a good President and we will see many good changes. I don't think the country will go crazy liberal, just a bit more moderate again. We need balance and the last 8 years we have been out of balance.

Side note: For that person who stole our Obama/Biden yard sign. You may steal my sign, but you didn't steal my vote or my hope for this country!

Go Vote!!

Halloween

Lily, David and I had a nice Halloween. I couldn't get Lily to wear her angel dress, but got her to wear the wings and halo for a few minutes. Unfortunately, David is dealing with a cold, so instead of trick or treating, Lily and I had door duty and passed out candy. Lily's favorite costume was a devil with red eyes. She talked about the red eyes all night and even this morning! I'm just glad that she didn't realize that was supposed to be a scary costume.

At least she tried the wings and halo!

Lily's favorite yard decoration! This was next door and Lily would talk about "Kiki-stein". When he was deflated, Lily would say "Kikistein sleeping?"
When they inflated him Lily said, "Kikistein up? There he is!"