Now that the Christmas season has officially come to a close (well, actually we still have on more Christmas to go to tomorrow, but we're close) -- Cody and I took down the decorations yesterday, and it's on to the next chapter of our lives. Looking back on this Christmas, we received some very nice gifts, and I wanted to have a record of them - for myself if anything ;)
Some of our favorite gifts (but definitely not all):
Both of our parents are splitting the cost of getting us a brand new double-stroller. This is awesome as it definitely would have been a big expense for Cody and I to take on by ourselves. The nice strollers - the ones that allow the older child to be sitting in them up to 50 pounds (which is necessary for us since Jaden is a BIG boy!) - cost at least $250.00. We don't actually HAVE the stroller in possession yet, but it is picked out, and I am excited for it.
Cody's parents purchased us a new video camera. This was somewhat a sigh of relief for me. My dad had gotten us a video camera two years ago when I was pregnant with Jaden, and we loved having it, but it unfortunately stopped working all together a few months ago, and I was starting to feel really sad about not having one to capture the same moments for our next little guy. Not to mention the fact that Jaden is doing all sorts of cute and new things all the time - I wanted to be able to capture it on video.
This might seem silly to some, but one of my favorite gifts this year was from my parents - a set of "Christmas" pillows for the couch in our living room. Now they aren't technically Christmas pillows - but they are the right color to match our Christmas decorations. Normally our living room's main color is a deep purple, but during Christmas I like to switch everything over to blues, silvers and golds for the whole month of December. The pillows on our couch are normally purple, so I had been looking for a couple of months for pillows that I could use only during December - blue ones - that wouldn't cost me a fortune. I wasn't willing to spend $40.00 per pillow for pillows I could only use one month out of the year - at least not this year with a baby on the way. I failed to find nice inexpensive pillows on my own, but my mom found the PERFECT pair. The blue color matches our decor perfectly, and the best part about it is that I don't have to store them during the other 11 months of the year because they actually match our bedroom colors, as well. So -- now that Christmas is over, they are displayed on our bed :)
Cody's mom picked out some new perfume for me this year. She gives us perfume/cologne every year which is awesome because again - this is an expense that I don't like to take on for myself. I always feel spending that much money on perfume could be better spent somewhere else (like on something the whole family really needs) - so it's nice to look forward to a new bottle every year. This year I had mentioned a couple of months ago that I loved Jessica Simpson's new perfume, and that is what she got me. I love the smell, and it came with a complimentary purse that I really like as well. My mom got me my other favorite perfume that I always have on hand but had recently run out of, and she put in my stocking. I am now stocked up on perfume, and very happy with both choices :)
My parents got us the new best baby thermometer. It's the one that you just swipe across their forehead really fast, and it gives you a reading right away. It's the new one most recommended by hospitals/doctors, and it is so fast and convenient. You can even do it when they're sleeping, and of course it works on adults, too. Another relatively expensive but necessary tool.
My grandpa got me a Target gift card, which I used completely on baby things. (This wouldn't excite Cody - but I love shopping for baby things, so this was a fun little shopping trip for me!) I hadn't bothered saving any of Jaden's bottles because they had been used and washed a million times. All of his pacifiers have vanished into thin air, etc. I went out and bought new bottles, new pacifiers, a new bottle washer, some 0-3 month and 3-6 month sleepers (I never felt Jaden had enough of these during those first few months when they like to poop, pee and spit up all over their clothes countless times a day). I also found really cool new teething rings that are much smaller than the ones Jaden had. When they're really little those big round teething rings can barely get into their mouth, and when they start getting teeth further in the back of their mouth, Jaden was never able to get the teething ring far enough back there to make it work. The ones I found I never saw when Jaden was a baby, and I think they are the perfect size. My cousin Michelle stocked us up on some new bibs and burp cloths, so we are pretty much set. All we need now are some diapers, one thing of formula in case nursing doesn't work right off the bat like it didn't with Jaden... and I want a new bouncer. But regardless -- so much less to buy the second time around!
Cody and I also both got mall gift cards, which I love because then you can go on shopping sprees without worrying about your bank account! I found some really nice things on sale for the house, and Cody used a lot of his on a brand new set of knives that were originally expensive but he found for half off.
I didn't mention everything, but these were some of the highlights. Thanks to our Moms and Dads and family members -- I now feel like I am prepared for what's to come in about two months!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
2009 In Review
The year started out slightly stressful but ended on the up side through lots of prayer... and a little patience ;) Here are the highs and lows of our first full year of marriage - 2009.
Low: Cody had to go on unemployment to end 2008 and start 2009. Last winter was a rough one with lots of disappointment when trying to find a new job. It was very hard on him to be stuck at home almost every day.
High: Cody went in for an interview with the owner of Royal Turf in March and got hired on the spot. What started out as an hourly position quickly turned into salary. He started off having to do some work with the mowing crew, but now is one of the main landscape employees and even has drawn up some designs for Royal Turf customers. The company loves him, and Cody loves the company. So far - so good on the job front for Cody!
High: Getting pre-approved to buy our first house. There were many lows during this process as well as the house hunt got frustrating at times, and we went through a period where we decided to stay in our apartment longer. This was hard on me, as I knew I wanted to try and get pregnant again over the summer so that our kids would be two years apart. I didn't think we should have another baby in our apartment so I had to prepare myself to put all of our original plans on hold. However - such is life right??!
High: Finding and buying our house! Sherry Padavich was our relator and did a great job for us. She knew what we wanted and what we couldn't and shouldn't settle for. The house we bought had two other couples look at it the same night (it had only been on the market for three days), and one of those other couples made an offer at the same time we did. They accepted our offer, and though it was one of the most terrifying nights of my life -- it has definitely been a reward that was worth all the risks! We were able to move out of our apartment and into our house at the end of May, and though it is not a house we will be content to stay in forever -- we feel very blessed to have found this house as our first one and as such a young married couple. There is very little that HAS to be done to it... for us, it was move-in ready. That definitely helps the pocket book a bit!
Low: Cody's parents house suffered a devastating fire in Aplington around the same time we were moving into our house. Though the house is being restored - the fire was bad enough that they pretty much had to gut the whole thing and lost a lot of special mementos in the process.
Low: The shooting and death of Coach Thomas. Enough said.
High: Two days after Coach Thomas was shot, we found out that we were pregnant. This was definitely planned although we didn't expect it to happen within the first month of deciding to go for it! I had taken a pregnancy test early in the week, and it came back negative. I admit to crying a little bit, as I prepared myself to go through the whole process of being disappointed month after month if that was what God's plan was. However, that test was wrong, and when I took the test again a few days later (in my work bathroom!) -- I was ecstatic to get a positive result. What an up and down week that was.
High: Our first Christmas season in the house. It was wonderful being able to put up our own tree and outside lights on the house. We had a wonderful four-day Thanksgiving weekend as a whole family, and it was fun watching Cody get into the Christmas spirit. He really got into all the decorating - especially the outdoor lights!
We are very grateful for our healthy family, including the baby that's still growing in my tummy, and pray daily that our safety and health continues to be a highlight of every year. Though life is about to change again with the birth of our second child, and though we are somewhat nervous as to how we will be able to handle this change, we couldn't be more thankful or excited. Bring on 2010!
Low: Cody had to go on unemployment to end 2008 and start 2009. Last winter was a rough one with lots of disappointment when trying to find a new job. It was very hard on him to be stuck at home almost every day.
High: Cody went in for an interview with the owner of Royal Turf in March and got hired on the spot. What started out as an hourly position quickly turned into salary. He started off having to do some work with the mowing crew, but now is one of the main landscape employees and even has drawn up some designs for Royal Turf customers. The company loves him, and Cody loves the company. So far - so good on the job front for Cody!
High: Getting pre-approved to buy our first house. There were many lows during this process as well as the house hunt got frustrating at times, and we went through a period where we decided to stay in our apartment longer. This was hard on me, as I knew I wanted to try and get pregnant again over the summer so that our kids would be two years apart. I didn't think we should have another baby in our apartment so I had to prepare myself to put all of our original plans on hold. However - such is life right??!
High: Finding and buying our house! Sherry Padavich was our relator and did a great job for us. She knew what we wanted and what we couldn't and shouldn't settle for. The house we bought had two other couples look at it the same night (it had only been on the market for three days), and one of those other couples made an offer at the same time we did. They accepted our offer, and though it was one of the most terrifying nights of my life -- it has definitely been a reward that was worth all the risks! We were able to move out of our apartment and into our house at the end of May, and though it is not a house we will be content to stay in forever -- we feel very blessed to have found this house as our first one and as such a young married couple. There is very little that HAS to be done to it... for us, it was move-in ready. That definitely helps the pocket book a bit!
Low: Cody's parents house suffered a devastating fire in Aplington around the same time we were moving into our house. Though the house is being restored - the fire was bad enough that they pretty much had to gut the whole thing and lost a lot of special mementos in the process.
Low: The shooting and death of Coach Thomas. Enough said.
High: Two days after Coach Thomas was shot, we found out that we were pregnant. This was definitely planned although we didn't expect it to happen within the first month of deciding to go for it! I had taken a pregnancy test early in the week, and it came back negative. I admit to crying a little bit, as I prepared myself to go through the whole process of being disappointed month after month if that was what God's plan was. However, that test was wrong, and when I took the test again a few days later (in my work bathroom!) -- I was ecstatic to get a positive result. What an up and down week that was.
High: Our first Christmas season in the house. It was wonderful being able to put up our own tree and outside lights on the house. We had a wonderful four-day Thanksgiving weekend as a whole family, and it was fun watching Cody get into the Christmas spirit. He really got into all the decorating - especially the outdoor lights!
We are very grateful for our healthy family, including the baby that's still growing in my tummy, and pray daily that our safety and health continues to be a highlight of every year. Though life is about to change again with the birth of our second child, and though we are somewhat nervous as to how we will be able to handle this change, we couldn't be more thankful or excited. Bring on 2010!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Dec. 23, 2009 Videos
We finally have a video camera again!! Our old one stopped working months ago after only having it for a little over a year and a half. Finally I can catch things on film again :)
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
"Up??"
Jaden is doing something so cute right now that I have to share. He's done this for a while now off and on... but now it is becoming a daily thing. And many times a day really. And he seems to be getting better at it.
Whenever he wants to be picked up for any reason... he looks up at me (or Cody), turns on his "cuteness" look, holds both arms up and says, "Up???" "Up???" And he says it in the sweetest voice -- it would make God cry :)
No matter what I'm doing or where we are or what's going on... when I hear that sweet little request, "Up???", I immediately drop what I'm doing and pick him up. I don't want him to grow up. I want him to stay small enough so that I can always pick him up :)
Whenever he wants to be picked up for any reason... he looks up at me (or Cody), turns on his "cuteness" look, holds both arms up and says, "Up???" "Up???" And he says it in the sweetest voice -- it would make God cry :)
No matter what I'm doing or where we are or what's going on... when I hear that sweet little request, "Up???", I immediately drop what I'm doing and pick him up. I don't want him to grow up. I want him to stay small enough so that I can always pick him up :)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thanksgiving Weekend
We had a fantastic four day break during the Thanksgiving holiday. Cody and I both got Thursday and Friday off, and it was so nice to spend all of that time together with Jaden. On Thanksgiving day we hung out around the house in the morning, and we were actually lucky enough to get Jaden to go down for an early nap around 11:15. With all of the events going on the entire afternoon I was worried he'd never nap at all. After we woke up him from his nap, we headed to my cousin Jodi's house in Cedar Falls for Thanksgiving with my side of the family. The food is always tremendous there! Between Jaden and my cousin's kids, there were seven kids there ages first grade down to 7 months :) It's always a roudy time at my family events! Jaden was so preoccupied by everything and everyone that he didn't even want to take the time to eat his Thanksgiving meal!
This is Jaden on Thanksgiving morning. He looks like such a big boy! :)
After spending a few hours at Jodi's house, we headed to Alison for Thanksgiving at Cody's grandparents. It was us, Cody's parents, his sister Cassi and her daughter Ella, Cody's grandparents, and Cody's aunt and uncle and two cousins. Jaden had a good time there, too but again was too preoccupied to really eat anything. Although he definitely made some time for some strawberry and banana pie! ;) I was so full from our first meal of the day that I didn't really eat much at the second stop -- which was probably a good thing :)
On Friday after Thanksgiving, we woke up pretty early. This has always been the day that my family has put up our Christmas tree and decorations so I definitely wanted to stick with tradition this year. I was SO excited to decorate my own house for the first time. Cody had been saying for weeks that he didn't really feel like having to put up outside lights (bah humbug) -- but by Friday he'd agreed so we set out around 8:30 in the morning to pick up some essentials. We stopped by Toys R Us first to see if we could find any good deals on Christmas presents for Jaden. After picking up a couple of things there, we went to Target and got all of our lights for our tree as well as our outdoor lights. I also picked out a shelf piece for our living room so that I would have more places to put out decor. Once we got home Cody headed outside to put the lights on the front of the house, and Jaden and I played outside for a little while also. When Jaden went down for his nap, Cody went and got our new tree from my parents' house. My parents got a new one last year, but the one they had been using was in storage this whole time -- and is an awesome tree. I absolutely love it, and we are so lucky that we get to call it our own now. After a few mis-haps (couldn't find the tree stand and had picked up non-matching lights from Target) -- we had everything we needed to start decorating. We also completely rearranged our living room to fit the tree in the best possible spot for it, and now we think we're going to keep our furniture like this all the time. We finished decorating right at about 5:00 and then headed to downtown CF with my parents to eat some supper at Toad's. Our downtown area was hosting its first ever "Holiday Hoopla" -- and they had a GREAT turn out, and this is definitely a tradition I hope to keep every year -- especially as the kids get a little older. They had a live nativity scene with real animals and a real baby playing Jesus. Santa's Workshop on one corner that is awesomely decorated. They had live entertainment outside with instrument players and a big stage set up for live singers singing Christmas music. They had a lighting of a special Christmas tree, Santa made his grand entrance off the top of a building and then they had fireworks. They also had characters walking the streets as snowmen and elves and reindeer handing out goodies to kids. We didn't stay for the fireworks because Jaden was too young yet to be patient and wait for them - and it was cold. But it was such an awesome event with thousands of people and a really cozy small-town Christmas feel. We got Jaden home and enjoyed sitting cozily by our fabulous tree.
Here is a picture of our tree and four stockings and the new shelf I got from Target that day. You can't really get a good idea of how neat and real looking the tree is... but we love it :)
Some more of our decorations. I hope to add to our Precious Moments Nativity over time. Cody's mom got me the beginning pieces of the set for my birthday (which is a week before Christmas) my senior year of college shortly after Cody and I started dating. I'd love to have the whole set one day. I can't wait to go out after Christmas this year and see what kind of decorations I can find on sale so that I can add more and more Christmas decor to our house every year. This seriously is my favorite time of the year!!
On Saturday we spent a LOT of time outside. After Cody had hung up the lights on the front of the house, we had a few boxes left. He woke up Saturday morning and had gotten really into the spirit of things ;) So he decided to hang lights up on the back part of our roof as well as all the way around our back deck and up the stair rails. Since we live on a corner lot with a street that goes behind our house, this part of our house gets seen just as much as the front of our house. I'm so grateful to him -- he worked so hard that weekend on making everything look nice and he got just as into it as I did. Our first Christmas in our first home has already been a special one :) Jaden enjoyed the weather outside that day -- it was beautiful out, and he didn't even need to wear his hat. He did a great job of running around, throwing his balls all over the place. At one point when I was sweeping up the driveway and Cody was on the ladder, Jaden took it upon himself to climb the steps of our deck, open the back door and go inside all by himself. I asked Cody, "What's he doing?" Cody told me to give him a minute and sure enough, a minute later Jaden walked back outside by himself carrying one of his footballs. Such a grown up moment for him to decide to do this all on his own without even saying anything! After his nap on Saturday we took Jaden to the park, and he played on all of the slides. The big long slide - the twisty slide - all of them. He had a ball. Cody would wait for him at the top of the play equipment and Jaden would race up there giggling and smiling and shrieking the whole way. I would wait for him at the bottom of the slides to catch him. We've decided we're going to use that park a lot this coming spring and summer to have cookouts, etc.
We ended our weekend Sunday by having a pretty laid-back day. Jaden did get a little crabby that day. I think he was worn out from such a busy weekend and was missing his friends at daycare a little bit :) Cody's parents came over that night and helped measure the walls of the baby's room because Cody's dad is going to put up a chair rail in there for us. We also tested out our two paint colors in the nursery and I loved them both! Next step is to paint the whole room so we can get the chair rail up. Jaden's bed has been ordered and we should have it by January 7th. He also has a new dresser coming. In January we will move the crib and the baby's dresser into the third bedroom and start decorating for the baby! Finally our third bedroom will be all ready to go after not using it since moving in last spring!
I think that's a long enough update! Merry Christmas from the Ubben family -- we hope you are all enjoying your Christmas season :)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Molars and Words
I can't believe my first little one has almost reached a major milestone -- the end of teething. Jaden's first two two-year molars came in at the top of his mouth this week. It was a little rough for a few days, but I should have seen the warnings last week. The end of last week he had a horrible runny nose, but he he wasn't stuffed up and wasn't acting like he had a cold at all. He was a little more irritable over the weekend - which I attributed to his growing attitude as he gains more desire for independence. (Which I still feel that has something to do with it!) He also had a really sore bottom about the same time the runny nose started. Then on Monday night, he broke out into a horrible hour-long crying session. This has never happened. Eventually we were able to get him to take Tylneol, and he calmed down about 15-20 minutes later. Before we sent him to bed that night, he allowed me to stick my finger in his mouth and sure enough -- I felt the tip of his first molar poking through. That explained everything - the runny nose, the awful tantrum, the sore bottom... he'd also been pulling at his ears a lot. His ears were bothered because of his teeth. Well, a day later he was getting even moodier, and on Tuesday night he was crying so hard that I was able to see all the way to the back of his mouth - and saw the second tooth starting to poke out. He even pointed to his ear that night when he was looking at me and informed me that he was in pain. After having a rough day at daycare on Wednesday, he seemed much happier last night and this morning. I think we've gotten through the worst of his first two molars (knock on wood) -- now we get to wait for the bottom two to arrive. Once those are done though - he will have all of his teeth!!! No more teething for that little guy... seems incredibly hard to believe we've reached that point :) I hope the next milestone is potty training ;)
We also had another first this week - two full sentences! His vocabulary is quite extensive now -- I can't even list all of the words he can say regularly or tries to say regularly. (Some words he struggles with greatly even though he tries them. "Please" sounds more like "teeese.") :) But - one morning this week, we were getting his shoes and coat on and the Mickey Mouse cartoon started on the Disney channel. As soon as Mickey appeared on the screen Jaden said, "There he is!" Cody and I both looked at each other like -- "did we just hear that???" Cody realized Jaden was copying me, as I always say "there he is" when Mickey comes on because I know Jaden loves Mickey. Then last night my mom and I were playing with him in the basement, and Jaden was surrounded by all of his balls. He had one in his hand, and I asked him, "What's that Jaden?" He replied, "It's a ball." Another full sentence ;) He's a long ways from being able to hold a conversation... but he grows up more and more every day. The funny thing is Cody was admiring my ever-growing tummy the other night and said, "Wow -- I can't believe I have a second little child on the way. I still can't get over the fact that we have Jaden!" And it's so true - he and I both still have moments where we look at him in awe -- having trouble believing that he's all ours :)
I do have to mention some of his newest words that we laugh about all the time:
Bug (he at some point became incredibly fearful of bugs and notices them instantly if they are around)
Buc (Cody was teaching him how to say "go Bucs" -- he doesn't say it plural yet, but every time he sees the Tampa Bay logo he points and says, "Buc!"
Ella (he's able to say his little cousin's name so well)
TC (the Panther mascot's name - very proud of that one!) ;)
We also had another first this week - two full sentences! His vocabulary is quite extensive now -- I can't even list all of the words he can say regularly or tries to say regularly. (Some words he struggles with greatly even though he tries them. "Please" sounds more like "teeese.") :) But - one morning this week, we were getting his shoes and coat on and the Mickey Mouse cartoon started on the Disney channel. As soon as Mickey appeared on the screen Jaden said, "There he is!" Cody and I both looked at each other like -- "did we just hear that???" Cody realized Jaden was copying me, as I always say "there he is" when Mickey comes on because I know Jaden loves Mickey. Then last night my mom and I were playing with him in the basement, and Jaden was surrounded by all of his balls. He had one in his hand, and I asked him, "What's that Jaden?" He replied, "It's a ball." Another full sentence ;) He's a long ways from being able to hold a conversation... but he grows up more and more every day. The funny thing is Cody was admiring my ever-growing tummy the other night and said, "Wow -- I can't believe I have a second little child on the way. I still can't get over the fact that we have Jaden!" And it's so true - he and I both still have moments where we look at him in awe -- having trouble believing that he's all ours :)
I do have to mention some of his newest words that we laugh about all the time:
Bug (he at some point became incredibly fearful of bugs and notices them instantly if they are around)
Buc (Cody was teaching him how to say "go Bucs" -- he doesn't say it plural yet, but every time he sees the Tampa Bay logo he points and says, "Buc!"
Ella (he's able to say his little cousin's name so well)
TC (the Panther mascot's name - very proud of that one!) ;)
Monday, November 2, 2009
Bedtime Routine
I have to write about this so that I never forget this particular bedtime routine with Jaden. I'm sure it won't last much longer because we are going to be switching him to a bed in under two months, and I'm sure the routine will change. But right now putting Jaden to bed is one of my favorite moments of every day.
Jaden always gets a bath between 7:15 and 7:30 every night. After bath, we put in one of his movies while we put his PJs on. He spends this time watching his movie, eating a snack if he wants one, and playing with Mommy and Daddy. At 8:00 we tell him it's time to brush his teeth. He takes Cody's hand and walks up the stairs to the bathroom. We get his little stool out in front of the sink, and Cody brushes Jaden's teeth. After Cody's finished, he lets Jaden do it on his own for a little while. It's so amazing how willing Jaden is to go to bed every night -- as soon as we say it's time to brush his teeth, he drops whatever he's doing and heads straight to the bathroom. After he's done brushing, he automatically gets off the stool and leads me and Cody to his bedroom. He then waits for Cody to get in the room, throws his arms up in the air for Cody to pick him up. This is my favorite part - he leans down and lets me kiss him once on each cheek. Then he looks at Cody and kisses him on the lips, and then he leans down to me one more time and gives me a kiss on the lips. Cody then puts him in his crib, tucks him in, and I hand him his cup of water. He drinks a few sips while we say our bedtime prayer, then hands me the cup back, and we say good night.
It's a little piece of Heaven at the end of the day :)
Jaden always gets a bath between 7:15 and 7:30 every night. After bath, we put in one of his movies while we put his PJs on. He spends this time watching his movie, eating a snack if he wants one, and playing with Mommy and Daddy. At 8:00 we tell him it's time to brush his teeth. He takes Cody's hand and walks up the stairs to the bathroom. We get his little stool out in front of the sink, and Cody brushes Jaden's teeth. After Cody's finished, he lets Jaden do it on his own for a little while. It's so amazing how willing Jaden is to go to bed every night -- as soon as we say it's time to brush his teeth, he drops whatever he's doing and heads straight to the bathroom. After he's done brushing, he automatically gets off the stool and leads me and Cody to his bedroom. He then waits for Cody to get in the room, throws his arms up in the air for Cody to pick him up. This is my favorite part - he leans down and lets me kiss him once on each cheek. Then he looks at Cody and kisses him on the lips, and then he leans down to me one more time and gives me a kiss on the lips. Cody then puts him in his crib, tucks him in, and I hand him his cup of water. He drinks a few sips while we say our bedtime prayer, then hands me the cup back, and we say good night.
It's a little piece of Heaven at the end of the day :)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
21 Months old and catching footballs!
I can not believe that Jaden turned 21 months old yesterday. And it is amazing how much he grows and learns every single day. He says a new word almost every day. This morning at 7:00 it was still pitch black outside, and he opened the curtains to our living room window, peaked his head around them looked outside and said "dark!" It was so cute as that was the first time has said that word. One of his other recent words has been "raffe" for "giraffe." He is getting to the point now where he really loves focusing on his toddler movies and Disney shows and seems to actually learn from watching them rather than just being entertained. The other night, he saw a little boy pouring himself a glass of milk in the movie and Jaden pointed at the TV and shouted, "MILK!" His little voice is the most wonderful thing in the world!
Last night Cody and Jaden were playing with Jaden's UNI football (one of many) in our living room. Jaden loves sitting at the top of the stairs (it's only about five steps up) and having Cody sit at the bottom. Jaden usually likes to throw the football down to Cody and then waits for Cody to throw it back. In the past, Jaden has just let the football fall to the ground and then he chases it down the hallway and brings it back to throw to Cody. However, last night out of the blue he started to CATCH the football consistently!! We were so excited for him and proud of him, and Jdaen caught on to that excitement. Every time he caught it, he would immediately shreak and clap his hands before throwing the ball back to Cody.
We have been teaching him all about the Panthers and UNI (of course)!! -- so he hears me say "Gooo Panthers!" a lot. Well he isn't able to see those words yet, but a few weeks ago he tried to imitate them by saying, "Daaaaa da da!!!" So now whenever he sees a football or the UNI logo on ANYTHING, he says "Daaaa da da!!!" Start em young, raise em right -- right?? I'm so proud he's already a Panther fan!
Jaden also is getting a lot better at feeding himself with a fork and a spoon. It's still a task that needs to be supervised just in case there are any major spills, but he's getting to the point now where he almost doesn't even want to use his fingers to eat any more - which is very exciting as it makes meal times easier for Mommy and Daddy. That means we actually get to eat our food right away rather than having to feed him first!
On Sunday night we carved our pumpkin. (Well, Cody carved and I watched!). It turned out really good. We of course had to make it a UNI pumpkin! I thought for sure that Jaden would have fun with it so we set everything up on our kitchen floor, I took all of Jaden's clothes off except for his diaper, and prepared for him to make himself a mess. That didn't happen -- he barely touched all the goop, and right away wanted me to wash his hands off! He then walked away from it and never came back to it :)
I will be 22 weeks pregnant tomorrow... yay!! Cody thinks this pregnancy is going faster than when I was pregnant with Jaden. (He's not the one who's pregnant!) I say the jury is still out on that - we still have potentially 18 weeks to go so ask me again when it's over :) Not that I mind being pregnant because except for the first few weeks I really have no problems with it at all. I love the excitement of counting down each week, the excitement of my belly getting bigger (until a few weeks from now when it's huge)! -- and how much stronger the baby's kicks feel almost every day. I am excited to be having another little boy -- and love the name we have picked out, which we will be keeping a secret until he arrives! Just this morning I ordered the nursery bedding and can't wait to get it here so I can pick out paint and get that room painted the way I want it! I am not worried about the next couple of months because I know the holidays will make time fly. However, I'm a little worried as to how I'm going to make it through January and February. When I was pregnant with Jaden, it was really hard on me when Cody was out during snow storms having to work on snow removal. I always missed him, had trouble sleeping and worried about him. (I'm a worry wart -- "is he falling asleep behind the wheel? Is his phone on him and will he hear it if I go into labor? etc etc.") Now add those worries to being home alone with a two year old in the dead of winter, a driveway to have to get shoveled out if we need to go anywhere, and being in the final stages of pregnancy. Cody also has a bad habit of either forgetting his phone at home or forgetting to charge it... those two habits will have to be corrected before this pregnancy reaches its end! However I am really excited (and slightly nervous) for how this labor/delivery will be different than the first. The first one I had to be induced and we knew that months ahead of time. We knew exactly what day Jaden was going to be born, and I never had to go into labor naturally. This time around they are handling things differently, and we are planning on a completely natural labor. I won't know what day he will arrive, and I will have to spend time at home with contractions before heading to the hospital -- should be kind of exciting! (And painful??!) :)
Here is my belly at 20 1/2 weeks :)
Last night Cody and Jaden were playing with Jaden's UNI football (one of many) in our living room. Jaden loves sitting at the top of the stairs (it's only about five steps up) and having Cody sit at the bottom. Jaden usually likes to throw the football down to Cody and then waits for Cody to throw it back. In the past, Jaden has just let the football fall to the ground and then he chases it down the hallway and brings it back to throw to Cody. However, last night out of the blue he started to CATCH the football consistently!! We were so excited for him and proud of him, and Jdaen caught on to that excitement. Every time he caught it, he would immediately shreak and clap his hands before throwing the ball back to Cody.
We have been teaching him all about the Panthers and UNI (of course)!! -- so he hears me say "Gooo Panthers!" a lot. Well he isn't able to see those words yet, but a few weeks ago he tried to imitate them by saying, "Daaaaa da da!!!" So now whenever he sees a football or the UNI logo on ANYTHING, he says "Daaaa da da!!!" Start em young, raise em right -- right?? I'm so proud he's already a Panther fan!
Jaden also is getting a lot better at feeding himself with a fork and a spoon. It's still a task that needs to be supervised just in case there are any major spills, but he's getting to the point now where he almost doesn't even want to use his fingers to eat any more - which is very exciting as it makes meal times easier for Mommy and Daddy. That means we actually get to eat our food right away rather than having to feed him first!
On Sunday night we carved our pumpkin. (Well, Cody carved and I watched!). It turned out really good. We of course had to make it a UNI pumpkin! I thought for sure that Jaden would have fun with it so we set everything up on our kitchen floor, I took all of Jaden's clothes off except for his diaper, and prepared for him to make himself a mess. That didn't happen -- he barely touched all the goop, and right away wanted me to wash his hands off! He then walked away from it and never came back to it :)
I will be 22 weeks pregnant tomorrow... yay!! Cody thinks this pregnancy is going faster than when I was pregnant with Jaden. (He's not the one who's pregnant!) I say the jury is still out on that - we still have potentially 18 weeks to go so ask me again when it's over :) Not that I mind being pregnant because except for the first few weeks I really have no problems with it at all. I love the excitement of counting down each week, the excitement of my belly getting bigger (until a few weeks from now when it's huge)! -- and how much stronger the baby's kicks feel almost every day. I am excited to be having another little boy -- and love the name we have picked out, which we will be keeping a secret until he arrives! Just this morning I ordered the nursery bedding and can't wait to get it here so I can pick out paint and get that room painted the way I want it! I am not worried about the next couple of months because I know the holidays will make time fly. However, I'm a little worried as to how I'm going to make it through January and February. When I was pregnant with Jaden, it was really hard on me when Cody was out during snow storms having to work on snow removal. I always missed him, had trouble sleeping and worried about him. (I'm a worry wart -- "is he falling asleep behind the wheel? Is his phone on him and will he hear it if I go into labor? etc etc.") Now add those worries to being home alone with a two year old in the dead of winter, a driveway to have to get shoveled out if we need to go anywhere, and being in the final stages of pregnancy. Cody also has a bad habit of either forgetting his phone at home or forgetting to charge it... those two habits will have to be corrected before this pregnancy reaches its end! However I am really excited (and slightly nervous) for how this labor/delivery will be different than the first. The first one I had to be induced and we knew that months ahead of time. We knew exactly what day Jaden was going to be born, and I never had to go into labor naturally. This time around they are handling things differently, and we are planning on a completely natural labor. I won't know what day he will arrive, and I will have to spend time at home with contractions before heading to the hospital -- should be kind of exciting! (And painful??!) :)Here is my belly at 20 1/2 weeks :)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Happy Fall!
Remember this picture from last October? Hard to believe a year has gone by. Happy Fall!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
I'm back!
Sorry it's been a while --- my new goal is update this at least once a week. Especially with our family growing -- this is kind of like my diary so I don't forget anything going on with our little one's lives.
Jaden turned 20 months old yesterday. I can't believe that in just four months, we will be the proud parents of a two-year old. He is such a funny little guy, and every day he does something new to make us laugh or smile. As our family knows, Jaden is OBSESSED with ceiling fans. We have three of them in our house - one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in his room. He thinks that every time we are home all of those fans need to be turned on, and he will point at them until we turn them on for him. Well throughout the summer, we followed his "orders" since it was usually warm enough out to do so. But with it cooling down lately, I'm trying to get him used to the idea that they don't need to be on all the time. So lately when he points at them, I shake my head and say "no -- too cold -- brrrrrrr." Well this morning after he woke up, he of course pointed to the ceiling fan. I said "no -- brrr." And he followed that up by shaking his head no with a very serious look on his face and forcing himself into a shiver. I wish I had it on video -- it was hilarious. He was so serious!!
He still doesn't say full sentences, but he tries new words all the time. Sometimes we only hear the word once and then he doesn't repeat it again for a while. However, his first official word is definitely "hot." He says it all the time - when something's in the microwave, on the stove, when he sees steam coming out of something, when we put his warm food in front of him... in the bathtub. And he says it very clearly and in such a high pitched voice - it's the cutest thing I've ever heard. Other words include -- Elmo, Grandpa, Tucker (the dog at daycare), cold, no (he uses that quite frequently now), milk, water, aacky (yucky), peacock (there's a pretty one in one of his books), up, down, -- and a few others as well. He also is a champion animal noise maker. Woof-woof, meoww, moo, cheep cheep (his bird noise), cack cack (his duck noise) -- and on occassion he has been known to snort like a pig. The other night I was singing "Jesus loves me" to him and I swear I heard him try to say Jesus. (Sounded more like Esus -- but close)!
He getting better at being able to brush his teeth. He had a little step stool in the living room that we put in front of our big window so he could see outside. He also used it as a little snack table. But lately he hasn't been using it at all because he's tall enough to see out the window without it, and he insists on eating his snacks sitting on the couch like a "big boy." So I moved the step stool into the bathroom so that he could stand on it over the sink to brush his teeth. The first night we did it that way, he was so proud of himself. Still haven't really tried potty training. We tried it a couple of times about a month or two ago, but he hated sitting on it and ended up throwing the potty seat down the stairs a couple of times. I didn't want to push it -- but I'm hoping to try again soon.
Jaden's also showing signs of becoming a soccer player (much to mine and Cody's dislike). He loves kicking balls, and he is getting really good at it! He comes after them with full speed and kicks them as hard as he can. Oh well -- even though I hate the sport, I know I will love cheering him on in anything he does!
Now on to our 2nd little bundle of joy. I am now 17 1/2 weeks into the pregnancy. Almost half way there... yay! I started feeling the baby move at 15 weeks but it's been very faint movements and only every few days or so. Yesterday there was finally about a 20 minute stretch of time where the baby must have been doing his/her afternoon workout because I could feel the little one punching me or kicking me constantly. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and then an ultrasound scheduled for next week. So hopefully we will know what we are having very soon!
We have some big house projects coming up that we need to get done by March. Since we have such small closets, my clothes take up our entire closet in the bedroom. Cody's been using the closet in the spare room but that will soon be unavailable -- and the majority of his clothes have to get washed a lot because of work so they end up on the laundry room floor. His dad has shelves from his hardware store that he is going to be giving us so we can transform the laundry room a bit. Cody will be able to put all of his clothes in the laundry room and he will hopefully keep it somewhat organized with the new shelving! We are going to be transforming Jaden's room out of his nursery phase and into his little boy room. I hope to get him into his bed right after Christmas so we have time to get him used to a bed before we have to get up in the middle of the night with the new baby. I already have the room decor/bedding picked out but haven't purchased it yet in case I change my mind at the last minute. It will be a sports theme -- of course! Once we find out if we're having a boy/girl, I'm going to immediately begin painting the spare bedroom. It's so ugly right now and it's driving me crazy since we haven't touched it since we moved in. I also don't want to save doing that room until the last minute -- I want to be able to gradually add to it as we get closer. We're also needing to find a new changing table/dresser combo to save space in that room (it's a small room and if we have a changing table and a dresser that's separate pieces we won't have room for a rocker) -- and also so that Jaden can keep the small dresser in his room. Our other project is getting the garage organized and to move a lot of stuff into our storage room in the basement. All summer Cody's been keeping his truck outside and I've been the only one parking in the garage just because so much stuff has been kept in there since the move. But once the snow comes, Cody's going to want his truck in the garage! I also need to go through all of our "baby" boxes. I can't remember where our baby bathtub is or where certain pieces for the car seat are, etc. etc. Even if we have a girl, there are things we had for Jaden that we'll be able to use for a girl -- I just need to find it all and remind myself what we have already and what we need! There's other little things I want to get done, too -- I finally figured out what I want to hang above our couch -- I just need to get around to actually doing it :) I finally figured out what I want to use to fill the cute little cubbies above our kitchen cabinets -- I just need to get around to doing it :) Of course the room that has received the smallest amount of attention is our bedroom. I'm hoping to find a nice new bedding set to ask for for Christmas -- once I get that, I will start focusing on transforming our bedroom into a room that I can be comfortable spending a lot of time in once the baby is here and I'm getting up for middle of the night feedings all the time! Right now I don't even like reading in that room before bed because even just sitting in our bed reminds me of all the things I want to do to that room!
Jaden turned 20 months old yesterday. I can't believe that in just four months, we will be the proud parents of a two-year old. He is such a funny little guy, and every day he does something new to make us laugh or smile. As our family knows, Jaden is OBSESSED with ceiling fans. We have three of them in our house - one in the kitchen, one in the living room and one in his room. He thinks that every time we are home all of those fans need to be turned on, and he will point at them until we turn them on for him. Well throughout the summer, we followed his "orders" since it was usually warm enough out to do so. But with it cooling down lately, I'm trying to get him used to the idea that they don't need to be on all the time. So lately when he points at them, I shake my head and say "no -- too cold -- brrrrrrr." Well this morning after he woke up, he of course pointed to the ceiling fan. I said "no -- brrr." And he followed that up by shaking his head no with a very serious look on his face and forcing himself into a shiver. I wish I had it on video -- it was hilarious. He was so serious!!
He still doesn't say full sentences, but he tries new words all the time. Sometimes we only hear the word once and then he doesn't repeat it again for a while. However, his first official word is definitely "hot." He says it all the time - when something's in the microwave, on the stove, when he sees steam coming out of something, when we put his warm food in front of him... in the bathtub. And he says it very clearly and in such a high pitched voice - it's the cutest thing I've ever heard. Other words include -- Elmo, Grandpa, Tucker (the dog at daycare), cold, no (he uses that quite frequently now), milk, water, aacky (yucky), peacock (there's a pretty one in one of his books), up, down, -- and a few others as well. He also is a champion animal noise maker. Woof-woof, meoww, moo, cheep cheep (his bird noise), cack cack (his duck noise) -- and on occassion he has been known to snort like a pig. The other night I was singing "Jesus loves me" to him and I swear I heard him try to say Jesus. (Sounded more like Esus -- but close)!
He getting better at being able to brush his teeth. He had a little step stool in the living room that we put in front of our big window so he could see outside. He also used it as a little snack table. But lately he hasn't been using it at all because he's tall enough to see out the window without it, and he insists on eating his snacks sitting on the couch like a "big boy." So I moved the step stool into the bathroom so that he could stand on it over the sink to brush his teeth. The first night we did it that way, he was so proud of himself. Still haven't really tried potty training. We tried it a couple of times about a month or two ago, but he hated sitting on it and ended up throwing the potty seat down the stairs a couple of times. I didn't want to push it -- but I'm hoping to try again soon.
Jaden's also showing signs of becoming a soccer player (much to mine and Cody's dislike). He loves kicking balls, and he is getting really good at it! He comes after them with full speed and kicks them as hard as he can. Oh well -- even though I hate the sport, I know I will love cheering him on in anything he does!
Now on to our 2nd little bundle of joy. I am now 17 1/2 weeks into the pregnancy. Almost half way there... yay! I started feeling the baby move at 15 weeks but it's been very faint movements and only every few days or so. Yesterday there was finally about a 20 minute stretch of time where the baby must have been doing his/her afternoon workout because I could feel the little one punching me or kicking me constantly. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and then an ultrasound scheduled for next week. So hopefully we will know what we are having very soon!
We have some big house projects coming up that we need to get done by March. Since we have such small closets, my clothes take up our entire closet in the bedroom. Cody's been using the closet in the spare room but that will soon be unavailable -- and the majority of his clothes have to get washed a lot because of work so they end up on the laundry room floor. His dad has shelves from his hardware store that he is going to be giving us so we can transform the laundry room a bit. Cody will be able to put all of his clothes in the laundry room and he will hopefully keep it somewhat organized with the new shelving! We are going to be transforming Jaden's room out of his nursery phase and into his little boy room. I hope to get him into his bed right after Christmas so we have time to get him used to a bed before we have to get up in the middle of the night with the new baby. I already have the room decor/bedding picked out but haven't purchased it yet in case I change my mind at the last minute. It will be a sports theme -- of course! Once we find out if we're having a boy/girl, I'm going to immediately begin painting the spare bedroom. It's so ugly right now and it's driving me crazy since we haven't touched it since we moved in. I also don't want to save doing that room until the last minute -- I want to be able to gradually add to it as we get closer. We're also needing to find a new changing table/dresser combo to save space in that room (it's a small room and if we have a changing table and a dresser that's separate pieces we won't have room for a rocker) -- and also so that Jaden can keep the small dresser in his room. Our other project is getting the garage organized and to move a lot of stuff into our storage room in the basement. All summer Cody's been keeping his truck outside and I've been the only one parking in the garage just because so much stuff has been kept in there since the move. But once the snow comes, Cody's going to want his truck in the garage! I also need to go through all of our "baby" boxes. I can't remember where our baby bathtub is or where certain pieces for the car seat are, etc. etc. Even if we have a girl, there are things we had for Jaden that we'll be able to use for a girl -- I just need to find it all and remind myself what we have already and what we need! There's other little things I want to get done, too -- I finally figured out what I want to hang above our couch -- I just need to get around to actually doing it :) I finally figured out what I want to use to fill the cute little cubbies above our kitchen cabinets -- I just need to get around to doing it :) Of course the room that has received the smallest amount of attention is our bedroom. I'm hoping to find a nice new bedding set to ask for for Christmas -- once I get that, I will start focusing on transforming our bedroom into a room that I can be comfortable spending a lot of time in once the baby is here and I'm getting up for middle of the night feedings all the time! Right now I don't even like reading in that room before bed because even just sitting in our bed reminds me of all the things I want to do to that room!
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