Blessings

In light of it being Thanksgiving week and the baby shower I attended yesterday and all, I've been doing a bit of reflecting. In my musings, I reminded again how truly blessed I am in my life. I have a job that I (used to) love where I know that I am making a difference in people's lives everyday, a roof over my head, an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, the best friend a girl could ask for in my sister, great parents...my list could go on an on. I have friends that inspire me and challenge me everyday. I have friends that I have known since I was 7 (Jana), 9 (Erin), 12 (Andrea, Jamie, Christina). I have reconnected with dozens more over the last six months thanks to the magical world of virtual networking. I don't think many can say that their group of friends--the ones that are invited to all the major events of their life and their kids' lives--consist of people that they've known since you were in elementary and junior high school. There's not a day that goes by that I don't smile at the idea that Sophie and Ryden will grow up together the same way that Jana and I did, or that I can get parenting advice from Kristen, who was in my preschool class, or that Sophie's aunt was also one of my good friends from high school.

I am a bit ashamed that I complain at all about the things that I don't really like about my life, as my worst day is the best day that someone else could ever aspire to. So in honor of it being Thanksgiving week, I am just going to enjoy my blessings, and be glad for all the amazing things I have in my life. :)

Pictures

Because I STILL haven't uploaded anything to snapfish (I have like 4 months of pictures. Ugh)...




~I'm 7 months old!~








~Modeling her new hoodie. She's pretty fired up about it.~











~Rocking the excersaucer~















~The early stages of a toothy grin. There's 4 teeth in that little mouth of hers. She's cutting 2 more as we speak!~
















~Do you love the tights as much as I do?~
















~Checking out the view from her tummy.~

Cruising and Ladybugs

Bean and I are playing last night, which is pretty typical for a weekday evening. The dinner has been had, the jammies are donned, and really we are just enjoying ourselves until it is time for bed. Lo and behold, what does my daughter do, but hitch herself up, and start crawling across the living room floor (it might not have been quite as effortless as that, but that's pretty much the gist). She looks like a drunken sailor right now, and it takes some time to move a few feet, but crawling is crawling, and my kid is officially mobile!

In other news, Bean had a great first Halloween. Tony and I drove down to San Diego on Friday night, and actually got to spend an ENTIRE weekend with his family (I should probably clarify that Tony FINALLY has weekends off! It is amazing what two days off in a row can do for a person!). Anyway, the drive down was a little bit rough. For those of you familiar with SoCal, and the area known as "the crush", you know how terrible the traffic can be. Minimal lanes, no median, and everyone and their brother is all trying to travel through about a 17 mile stretch of freeway. But I digress. In this section of freeway, there is also a huge costume store that is literally spitting distance from the freeway (my SoCal people, I'm sure, all know which store I am talking about). Apparently, Friday was the single best day in the history of the world to buy a costume, and the entire population of Orange and LA counties were piling into this establishment doing a little last minute shopping before heading off to whatever party was planned for the weekend. The only reason why I mention this is that Tony and I were caught in this poop storm. We spent over an hour trying to make our way past this store. From Dodger Stadium to the store is about 20 miles...it took us well over an hour to drive this stretch. I mention this only because Sophie has never been much of a fan of traffic. Thankfully, she slept through the worst of the traffic, leading Tony and I to believe that we were in the clear. No sooner had we passed the exit to the store (literally, hundreds of cars and people spilling out into the parking lot...it was ridiculous), then we started hearing the first squeaks and murmurings from the backseat. After a 10 minutes of fussing, she fell back to sleep again, only to wake up 20 minutes later and cry. For at least 40 miles, she cried, wailed, whimpered to be let out of her carseat and be put to bed for reals. She was pretty miserable by the time we reached Tony's parents' house, but after a bottle and some cuddling, she was sound asleep.

I bought her a costume over a month ago, even though I knew how silly it is to take a seven month old trick or treating. She isn't going to last for more than a few houses, there were no guarantees on the weather (which was beautiful, by the way), she's an armful which would make carrying her a challenge after awhile. At any rate, I bought the costume anyway, because it was too stinking cute not to. I dolled her up after dinner, with this as the result...



...Seriously, how CUTE is she? Tony and I went to maybe 3 houses with her, just so I could feel like I got some miles out of the costume, and then took our niece and nephew to another half dozen before we headed back home. I'm pretty sure that she'll be a ladybug again next year so I can feel justified in buying her costume in the first place.

The rest of our weekend was lazy, relaxing, and much needed. Our nephew, Max, celebrated his first birthday last week, so we had a small family party for him on Sunday. Max, by the way, was a lion this year...



I hope everyone else had a great Halloween. I can't believe that we are a little more than three weeks from Thanksgiving! Where does the time go?! Stay tuned for more updates!

Half a Year...

Sophia is 6 months old (well, truth be told, she's almost 6.5 months old, and I am just slow on the pick up...). I can't believe my little bean is already a half a year old! Tony and I marvel constantly how much she's grown and developed since March. Truly, when we look at pictures of her from when she was first born, we hardly can recognize that baby! In 6 months, Sophie has:

* learned to roll front to back, and back to front.
* decided that tummy sleeping is the greatest thing in the entire world.
* started eating cereal (rice and oatmeal)
* started eating pureed yams, squash, green beans, peas, apples, and avocado. She LOVES the yams, apples, and squash. The jury is still out on the other stuff.
*cut three teeth. She has two on the bottom, and one on the top. We think the second one on top is moments away from making its debut.
* learned to drink from a sippy cup. She drinks water now like her life depends on it.
*started hitching her back legs into a crawling position. Tony and I are going to be in for it when she goes mobile...
*learned to sit up on her own. She also thinks playing while laying down is for babies.
*learned that standing is the greatest thing ever. She balances herself (with help still) against the coffee table, the couch, us, and gets the biggest grin on her face when she does so.
*started saying "dadadada", "mamama", "cahcahcahcah", and "dahdahdahdah". The last 2, I think, are "cat" and "dog". It might be my overactive imagination, but she seems to say those only when Sappho (the cat) and Lucy (the dog) are nearby. Our friend, Julie, is also convinced that Sophie says, "ok, bye bye", but I haven't heard that one myself.
*gotten this close to sleeping through the night. She has a night every 10-14 days when she makes it all the way through. Unfortunately, I started back to work 3 weeks ago (I am SO NOT a fan of working mommyhood), and hanging with various babysitters has thrown her off her game a bit. I'm sure once her permanent nanny starts (a week from today), she'll work it all out. Getting a full night's sleep again is a dream that Tony and I feel like is still too good to be true.

6 months. I think its going to take me at least another 6 months before I am going to be used to this!..

6:15

That's what time Sophie woke up this morning. 6:15. Am I complaining? Heck no! She slept for the entire night! 6:45-6:15. The end might be just around the corner! Cross you fingers, everyone!

Milestones...

It seems that I have proved myself a liar. I find that it is almost a month (longer???) since my last entry, and I still have not posted new pictures, let alone keep anyone current on the life and times of Sophie Bean. The highlights from the past month are:

1) We had Sophie's four month check up on July 14th (jeez! Can I be any later in my blogging?). She's healthy as a horse, according to her pediatrician. She is in the 95% for height, and 80% for head circumference (her body is FINALLY catching up to her noggin. I was afraid I had given birth to a bobble head). My little dumpling also came in in the 100% for weight. The doctor assures me that there is nothing to worry about, and she will burn all of her thighs (I mean, weight) off once she's more mobile. He also said that the reason why she wasn't rolling all the way over yet was because of her weight. Well, I never!

2) Sophie is slowly stretching her night in hour increments. Now, she pretty consistently makes it until 4-5 before she's up and ready for a feeding. Tony and I can ALMOST see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sleeping the entire night might not be a distant memory after all!



3) We definitely have a talker on our hands! Sophie has about a million interesting things to talk about now that she's found her voice. She babbles to Tony and I, the cat, the dog, the trees, her feet...pretty much anything within her sight line is going to get an ear full. Now, if we could just understand what she's talking about!

4) In the last three weeks or so, Sophie is also much more interested in standing. I think buying her an excersaucer might have had something to do with it (practicing being vertical or something...), but she LOVES standing on laps. She gets a huge grin on her face...she KNOWS that she is the smartest one in the room.

5) Just this past weekend was a virtual trifecta of important events. As we sat on the floor and played on her mat on Friday afternoon, low and behold, what does my little girl do but flip herself over onto her tummy. She looked up at me as though to say, "what's the big deal?". Now that she's figured it out, she won't stop, even though she still hates to be on her tummy. it seems as though I've officially become the baby flipper until she works out how to turn from front to back. By yesterday, she seems to have decided that if she was going to roll over to the right, she might as well learn to go left as well...so she did. On Saturday, Tony walked into our bedroom with Bean and announced that she had cut her first tooth (seemingly overnight, as there was no tooth on Friday). She is moderately more fussy as a result, but I have to say that the first tooth wasn't too bad (I hope I can say the same when her molars come in!). Finally, on Sunday, Tony and I gave Bean her first rice cereal breakfast (her doctor wanted us to start at four months, but I felt like that was too early). Her first attempt was, well, messy. Since then, however, she seems to really take to it. Last night, she was even leaning forward to get to the spoon sooner it seemed. Cute!

In other news, I have about five weeks left before I am officially a full-time teacher again. Tony and I were this close to having the perfect nanny. Terisa started last Monday, and worked last Wednesday as well. She unfortunately called this past Monday to tell us that her engine blew up...and she has no way of getting to Santa Clarita otherwise. It was like glimpsing Paradise and then having the doors shut in my face. So now we are back to square one. *Sigh* Its stressful knowing that we have to have someone sorted out in the next few weeks, as after September 8th, Bean will have to hang out at home by herself. Wish us luck!



Otherwise, we have been laying low and trying to stay cool. Two of our very good friends from San Diego are both due to become parents shortly (actually, our friends, Brian and Laura, already did. Now we are just waiting for Brian's sister, Becky, to have her baby). We both couples give us the word, we'll make another trek down to San Diego to welcome the new babes. The beach weather in Carlsbad will be a nice change from the Hades-like conditions of living Mojave adjacent. :)

Well, there are literally a TON of pictures that I need to post now, and I will make no promises anymore of when that might be. Stay tuned!

Where Does the Time Go?

Ah! Sophie is almost four months old already! I can't believe it! I also can't believe that I missed posting anything about her three month milestones entirely. What kind of mother am I?

Well, as of this Saturday, my baby girl is going to be 16 weeks old. July 14th marks her actual four month birthday. I keep tabs on both because I think I might be a little bit crazy. Ce la vie. But where to start? We had a great first Mother's Day. Tony made a great picnic and we headed up to the local park for the afternoon. Sophie loved sitting in the shade and watching the trees in the wind, Lucy sniffing at the grass, the clouds, everything. She is so observant and never seems to miss anything. Father's Day waas equally wonderful. Tony's awesome parents drove up the Saturday before and surprised him so that they could be there to celebrate Tony's first Father's Day with him. Sunday was spent visiting with his brother and wife. He also bought an Iphone, which has pretty much changed his life. :) Tony wanted to spend his day just hanging out with his family, so we stuck pretty close to home. He gets so few opportunities to just be with his daughter, that he couldn't think of a better way to spend Father's Day. I think he was in heaven all day!

Not too long after Mother's Day, we reached another big day...well, night, to be exact. We put Sophie to bed at her normal hour, fully expecting to be up with her at 10-11 like usual (which would be about 4ish hours of sleep...). Low and behold, we wake to hear her crying at not 11, but 2 am! Yay! The difference of sleeping for 7-8 hours instead of 4-5 is like night and day. We almost feel human again! And aside from a pretty hairy week while we housesat for some friends of ours (Sophie did NOT like sleeping at Diane and David's...AT ALL!), she has pretty consistently stuck to her new schedule. What is even better is that my amazing husband has been taking the first night feeding with her since she was five weeks old. Now that there is only one feeding, momma gets to sleep pretty much all night! We might work out a rotation, as Tony is still pretty tired when he gets up for work, but he loves the private time he gets with her each day.

What else? During our housesitting week, she also started laughing. Baby laughter is one of the sweetest sounds ever, but when its coming out of your own kid, and its the FIRST TIME you are hearing it, your heart just melts. She still only laughs when mommy or daddy are being REALLY (I mean REALLY) goofy, or she's loopy-tired, but its certainly a start. Last Monday we also snapped this photo...




...of her. I can't believe how quickly she's growing! She's also moments away from rolling over. Coordinating her arms to get out of the way when she makes her move is her biggest hurdle, but with a little help from Tony or myself, she can pretty much work it out.

In other news, Tony and I had a great Memorial weekend (except for the almost 4 hour drive we made down to San Diego...Sophie was not a fan). Tony also finally took a five day "paternity leave" last week which was awesome. He was able to stay home with Sophie last Monday while I went back to work for one day. He had a great day, and LOVED getting to have one-on-one daddy/daughter bonding time. We are also in the process of interviewing nannies, which is stressing both of us out. We've met with six women, and 2.5 of them are contenders. We have another interview this afternoon, and we are hoping to have a decision by this Friday. While (almost) all of the interviewees are nice enough, with varying levels of experience, both of us are realizing how very much WE want to be the ones staying home and raising our daughter. Currently, that doesn't seem to be an option, but we are DEFINITELY looking for opportunities that would allow one or both of us to be home with Sophie all the time. We are headed down to San Diego for the fourth, and are looking forward to some QT with his family. Our good friend, Nicole, will be in town from Texas so that she will finally get to see Sophie, and her husband (also Tony's best friend), Tim will hopefully be making an impromptu trip to meet up with us as well. In the midst of the driving and visiting, we'll also be celebrating our nephew, James', fourth birthday. Talk about time flying!

Photos will be up on snapfish in the next week. There will be TONS, as I think there is half of May and all of June to post! Hopefully, I will learned a lesson about procrastination from this! Probably not... :) Happy 4th, everyone!

A little preview, to tide everyone over...

Keeping Faith

I've been following a blog for the last month about a little girl named Faith. Her mother, Shelly, is a friend of my friend, Andrea. Both Faith and Andrea's son, Drew are heart kids...that is, they were both born with very serious heart defects. Both Faith and Drew have had numerous heart repairs, the most recent for both kids being the same surgery. Drew had his surgery last May, and Faith had hers just this past March. Drew is a remarkable five year boy who for the first time can run, jump, and play almost like any other five year old. Faith, however, died just this past Monday morning after an extremely long and arduous hospital stay.

I've never met Shelly, and I never knew her daughter either. I only heard about their situation through Andrea, who had posted links to Faith's blog on her blog and facebook site. I read Shelly's updates on Faith almost daily, however, as Shelly's candor and honesty about her feelings over her daughter's situation were incredibly touching. As I read about Faith's passing, tears streamed down my cheeks. I felt her loss, and what is more, I felt Shelly's. Sophia is only three months old, and the impact her little life has had on mine cannot be described unless you actually are a parent. She is inextricably tied to me. Whatever pain she will feel in life I will feel also. To lose a child has to be an uncomparable devastation.

Shelly is a remarkable mother. Her daughter's passing, while painful, has touched her mother deeply. Faith's short life was a testament to loving unconditionally, making her loved ones feel special and unique, and finding beauty everyday. As a result, Shelly has committed her life to doing the same. Her journey is truly inspiring. In the end, the life that Faith lived, and the message that Shelly has shared with hundreds of strangers, is the life that each of us should strive to live everyday.

Life IS precious, and a gift that should be cherished. Each of our loved ones should know how important they are, and that their presence in our lives is a blessing. However fleeting an impact it may seem to be at the time, we should learn to appreciate the positive influence it has had in our own lives. Like Faith, and Shelly, to love unconditionally and to value the blessing that life is is a quality we should all embrace. I know that I am going to remember to appreciate all the blessings that life has to offer, as they are fleeting and temporary. A little girl who I never met reminded me to always keep faith.

Two Months!

~Two Months Old~

I can't believe that its already been a month since my last post! My days don't seem busy, but then again, when you are watching a two month old, the time kind of flies.

Can you believe that Sophie is already two months old?! Checking into the hospital seems like yesterday, and a lifetime ago (I think I keep saying that...). She is getting SO BIG, and the doctor confirmed that today at her two month well baby checkup. She is in the 95% now across the board for height, weight, and head circumference (she's totally her mother's daughter...). She coos and babbles, which is the CUTEST thing in the entire world. She holds her head parallel to her body when we pull her forward by her hands (that isn't usually until 3 months, according to the books, by the by). Hmmm...what other marvels can I share about my daughter? As much as Tony and I are hoping a dreaming for the day, Sophie still isn't quite sleeping through the night. Her bedtime is around 7, and Tony take the first feeding about 11 (altough the last few nights were closer to 1...maybe the start of something new and great?!?!). I get up with her about 2ish (again, lately its been around 5 though, after the 1 a.m. feeding). We are assured that sleeping through the night (or close to it) is just around the corner, so we are waiting with baited breath.


~Cute Foot!~
Sophie had her first round of immunizations today, and took them like a champ. Only a few minutes of crying, and then it was over. She was fussy in the afternoon, which everyone has told me to expect, and she went to bed EARLY tonight (well, I hope she did, I just put her down and its only 5 pm...I hope I don't live to regret that!).


~Little bit of Momma love...~

New pictures for May are on Snapfish, so take a look when you get a chance. I hope everyone is doing as well as Sophie is! Have a great Memorial Weekend...I know we will!



~The only picture where I think she looks like me...~

Happy Birthday!

My baby was one month old yesterday!

Happy Easter!

Happy belated Easter, everyone! We have had good couple weeks, and an whirlwind Easter holiday. There is not much to report as far as our day-to-day goes. Between eating, sleeping, and pooping, Sophia's schedule is pretty booked up. In between those activities, I find time for showering, reading, napping, and catching on reruns of Desperate Housewives on Lifetime. My days are pretty major. We've had visits from Jana and Ryden pretty much every week, which is awesome. What Sophia and Ryden may not understand is that they are betrothed, so Jana and I figure that they should hang out a bit and get to know one another. :) Sophie also had a cold last week, which wasn't the worst thing in the world. That is, she wasn't too fussy or miserable, but the amount of snot that can come out of that little nose is pretty impressive. She makes mommy so proud... The worst seems to be over now, and the booger sucker is almost a thing of the past.


Easter was fun, but quick. We took a chance and decided to risk the car trip down to San Diego to visit Tony's family. His parents hadn't seen Sophia since she was born, and his grandmother hadn't seen her at all. The trip down wasn't too bad. We made it all the way to Mission Viejo (80+ miles of the 120 mile trip, for my out-of-staters) before we had to stop for a feeding and a quick diaper change. The rest of the trip was a breeze, and Sophia was sleeping soundly 40 minutes after we arrived. Unfortunatley for her adoring fans, she also slept most of Easter, so most people didn't get to see her until about an hour or so before we started packing up to leave. The trip home was awful, and the traffic was MUCH worse than either Tony or I had anticipated. Thankfully, despite the fact that she usually wakes up if the car isn't moving, Sophie slept for the ENTIRE almost 4 hour car ride home. My daughter rules.



There are, of course, pictures to post, but I have a kid that needs to be fed pretty soon. Check back in shortly, and expect a new installment of April photos to be put up on snapfish.

Parenthood

My baby is officially two weeks and two days old today. It is such a small amount of time that has passed, but I can't believe that it has already been two weeks since Sophia was born! On one hand, it seems like only a moment has passed since Tony and I checked into the hospital. I keep playing the "two weeks ago" game...two weeks ago, we were getting ready to leave for the hospital; two weeks ago, I was finally getting induced; two weeks ago, Sophie was born.... You get the idea. On the other hand, it seems already like a lifetime ago that she was born. I can't imagine what life would be like now without her being a part of it. Amazing how such a little person has such profound impact on my life.

We had our two week check up today. My first and most immediate observation is that pediatricians are freakishly perky. I guess its an occupational hazard. Secondly, Sophie received a clean bill of health, which is reassuring considering she was practically starving her first few days. She has gained over a pound from her birth weight, and two pounds over what she dropped down to after she was born. According to Dr. Perkypants, Sophie is in the 80th percentile as far as her weight goes (which is hard to believe, because she still looks SO LITTLE). I missed what her actual length is now, but she is just above that average. Doesn't really surprise me, considering Tony and I are both tall kids born to short parents. Her head size is in the 90th percentile, which also doesn't surprise me...I've been told that I have a rather large cranium. :) All in all, Sophie is a healthy and vital little girl who is growing like a weed. Exactly what a new parent wants to hear!

Otherwise, our little family is doing well. Tony and I spend countless moments watching her make faces, and marvel at her adorable little features. Sophie is sleeping pretty well, and we are taking advantage of the three to four hour stretches of sleep we are getting a night. I am enjoying my time off, and am SO GRATEFUL that I will have a full six months at home to be with my daughter. Tony is still hard at work, and unfortunately can't take a paternity leave until next month, but for the most part is making sure that he is home by 7 to enjoy some time with Sophie every day. We have lots of visits from my mom and sister, and Tony's family have all made separate visits over the last couple weeks to see the new addition.

I suppose that's it for now. Our lives are pretty tame for the time being, and we are just enjoying being a trio. Hope everyone is finding themselves as happy and satisfied as we do lately. Stay tuned for more to come!

Things That I Have Learned in a Week...

~Meet Sophia!~



~The first, albeit extremely fuzzy, picture of the new Jaeggi family~

1) That knowing the delivery date of your first child is enough to send you over the edge of sanity because of the unbelievable nerves, anxiety, and suspense.

2) That pitocin is the ENEMY, and no matter how much a girl might be against an epidural later in the labor, it will suddenly become her best friend.

3) That lying in a hospital bed for 29 hours is not as fun as one might think.

4) That SAYING that your labor/delivery lasted 42 hours sounds impressive, but when you are the one actually experiencing it, it feels like only 5 minutes actually passed.

5) That the first moment of looking at your child is priceless and will change the person you are, the way you look at the world, what you deem valuable and important in an instant.

6) It is possible to love someone more than you love yourself, more than you love your spouse, and you can't describe that kind of love to someone who hasn't experienced it themselves.

7) Even though you don't think you can love your spouse anymore than you already do, the love you have for them AFTER the birth of your child increases that feeling by at least tenfold.

8) It is possible to function on 3 hours of sleep, and not look like an absolute zombie.

9) Having a child is miraculous, scary, awe-inspiring, gut wrenching, powerful, and empowering...all at the same time.

10) That my daughter is the most beautiful, incredible, and amazing accomplishment that I can ever take credit for.

That's right, everyone. The big day has come and gone, and at 9:26 a.m. on March 14th, Sophia Diane Kampmeyer Jaeggi was born. She weighed in at 8.3 lbs, and measured a loooong 21 inches, and is perfect in every way. Our first week has come and gone, and all things considered, things have gone pretty well. The first couple nights were pretty rough, as it turned out that my milk was not coming in readily, and Sophie was hungry pretty much ALL the time. After a few lactation consultations, many of the kinks have been worked out. She needs to take a supplemental feeding here and there, and I have to be VERY rigorous about her feeding schedule to make sure that I am making enough milk (which it seems that I am...finally). We have had my mom and sister here almost every day alternating baby help duty, and Tony's and my good friend, Tim, flew out from Texas last Thursday to stay with us, help me out, and bond with his new pseudo-niece for a few days. He has been pretty much a God-send.

I've included a few of the pictures from our first week here, but otherwise, check out the snapfish site to see all the pictures that we have taken so far. I will try to be better about posting, but I'm sure you can all understand how busy the life of a new parent can be. Tony and I want to thank you all for your love and support, and all the well wishes we have received this last week, and over the last 9 months. We are incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends and family, and can't wait for Sophie to meet all of you!



~Sophie Diane, minutes old~

As Promised...

~Enjoying the rad glider that my husband put together. No nursery is complete without one!~



~This is what a completed Bean room looks like. Pretty cute, huh?~



~More Bean room. Apparently, we never took pics of the other side of the room. Guess we wanted to leave something to mystery!~



~Month 9. Not my finest moment. Wish I had thought of taking picutres during the day, instead of right before I went to bed...~



~Beware of the cankles!~



~Kickin' it with Ryden. 'Cause he rules.~



~Ryden is blowing raspberries because he's mad that Bean is taking so long to hang out with him.~



~Tuckered out from hanging out with Auntie Laura and Uncle Tony. We're pretty major. I think the anticipation of waiting for his future BFF got to him as well.~



~Term. I'm friggin' HUGE. There's nowhere to go anymore but out, Bean!~

I know that month 8 is MIA, but I can't find the file. You get the idea though. THe belly grows, the chest seemingly shrinks. I look like a homeless woman in every picture. Yada yada yada. I also know I promised sonogram pics also, but the scanner is at my mom's house, and I keep forgetting to take the pictures to the scanner. Its almost anticlimactic to post the sonogram photos AFTER Bean, seeing as how the real thing is probably going to be much more exciting. We'll see what the future holds. Stay tuned, folks. The next post will be announcing Bean's arrival! Yay!!!

Quick and Dirty...

Ok, I'll post more in a bit. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up about what the low-down is.

1) Bean isn't here...yet (that's why there is a profound lack of cute baby pics).

2) I'm scheduled to be induced tomorrow...so the end is in sight.

3) Someone (more than likely Tony or Amy) will start spreading the word when there is word to be spread. Check back in here, stay close to your phones, check your email a lot in the next 36 hours or so.

Until then, hang tight! I'll really for realsies post the missing pics later this evening. I have backup meals to make still and I'm starting to realize that I am just about out of time to get everything done!

Update on the Update...

Just quickly popping in to let my nearest and dearest know I haven't forgotten all of you. I'm well. Tired, but hanging in there. I'm two days into week three of second semester (huh?) and starting to wonder why I thought teaching second semester at all was a good idea. I'm also nine days from my due date...which completely blows my mind. My doctors seem to be hinting that I might not make it until the 5th, which I think would be FABULOUS, but early labor remains to be seen. Tony and I are both incredibly anxious and excited to meet Bean and start working on being a family, instead of just a couple!

There are pictures to post (new belly shots, finished Bean room, new 3D sonogram...), but those are at home, and I have a TON of sub notes that I need to finish typing. Stay tuned, and remember that patience is a virtue! Pictures and a more interesting blog by the end of the week.... I promise!

Belly Updates!

Alright, folks, you asked for it. Here's the up-to-date on the belly!



~month 7, post christmas tree decorating. that's my excuse for looking so scaggy. :)

the rest of the photos are being a little tempermental. i'll see if i can work out the kinks and get the published in the next couple days.

T-Minus 6 Weeks and Counting...

Can you believe it? Six weeks?!?!?! It hardly seems real to me that in 6(ish) weeks, Tony and I are going to be parents. I feel like I am only just getting used to the idea of being pregnant, and now all of sudden, Bean is practically here! Crazy!

The holidays passed in a blur (like they always do). Tony and I hosted Christmas Eve dinner again, and then had Christmas Day breakfast at my mom's house. We had an impromptu dinner at my best friend's parents' house that night, which was wonderful. When I was a teenager, I spent many a holiday with Erin's parents, but being a grown up seems to get in the way at times of my childhood traditions. Erin's family is like my second family, and so its just...appropriate...that I spend the holidays with them. You know? We also went down to San Diego the weekend after Christmas for the Jaeggi celebration. We had the BEST white elephant gift exchange of ALL TIME! What is even better, is that Tony's family has decided to make it an annual tradition. Yay!!


~me and my mountain belly~

New Year's week started out with promises of catching up with some work, watching some movies, and maybe even catching up with some friends. Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men.... What my New Year's week turned out to be was getting a car accident on New Year's Eve eve. An over-dyed 19 year old in daddy's BMW rear ended me. I was near my mom's house, so after I got the information from the girl (she was poo), I took myself to my mom's to check in with Tony and let him know that I was ok. He insisted that I go to the doctor, which I hadn't even thought about, and frankly was kind of annoyed at the thought of. My mom drove me to the doctor's office, and to make a long story short, I found myself at the hospital later that afternoon. Initially, it was a precautionary measure, but after being told by one of the nurses that I had been having contractions for I'm not sure how long, it finally clicked in that Bean might have been seriously hurt!! THAT'S when I started to get really mad...and worried. The whole thing wasn't about me, it was about Bean, which was kind of a huge revelation for me. It was a total "I'm going to be a mom" sort of moment. I spent the night in the hospital (sooooo not fun!), but that was again purely precautionary. Everything turned out fine, and besides some extra sonogram appointments, neither Bean or I are no worse for the wear.

Luckily, Tony and I have AWESOME friends, and our good friend (Tony's best friend), Tim spent the entire weekend after New Year's painting Bean's room and putting up crown molding. Seriously, Bean has the best room in the house, and the best uncle in the world to make such a good looking room for our kid. Thanks, Uncle Tim! Tony and I have spent the last few weeks since the room painting doing a major overhaul on both our closets, the storage cupboard, and our carport storage making room for Bean. Its amazing how much crap a person (or 2) can accumulate!


Well, that pretty much brings us up to date. Bean's shower is a week from this Saturday, and all three of us can hardly wait! Tony and I (read: I) decided to have a Jack and Jill shower instead of a traditional baby shower. Our male friends are just as important to us as our girl friends, and Tony had SOMETHING of a hand in the making of Bean, so I figured he should probably be allowed to be around to celebrate as well. Now, everyone will be able to celebrate without the traditional baby shower games. So...there will be no smelling of the baby food, or making diapers out of stuff, or measuring of the belly, or anything else. Just mexican food, beer, and DELICIOUS cuppy cakes. Not to mention a crap load of our nearest and dearest. I'm really looking forward to this, by the way!

Hmmm...pictures are to come. I have to dig out the cords for the camera, which have gone missing since the room overhaul. Stay tuned for updated belly pics, AND a new 3D sonogram of my kid's adorable mug. You can hardly wait!