On the Road Again

Big kid bike!

2011-07-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

Austin's first big kid bike. I have to pat myself on the back for this one. We have been waiting for the day that we would drive by a garage sale, and just see one waiting for us....and well my friends Sat was that day.

I was driving home from work, and my usual route involves cutting through the subsidized living area. There it was, in between a broken book shelf, and hodge podge of shoes and toys. Apparently subsidized, those sell as a unit. Free pair of shoes with every pez dispenser.

But, I'm getting off track....I got home to tell Josh, and we hopped back in the car to check it out. A little rusty, but all in all good shape. There was a 10 year old with hair a nice shade of blue-ish grey working. He told us $2 initially. His older sister quickly interjected and said no, it was $5...but they would take $3. I mean I never been one to haggle, but I really have never had the sellers do the haggling while I stared blankly thinking....I can just pay $5 for it. I mean lets be honest there isn't much I wouldn't buy for $5 at a garage sale.

I would be like, "Look hunny I got this wicker basket at a garage sale. Sure it's handle is missing and it has a hole in the middle, but....it was only $5!"

Fortunately for them, all I had was a five dollar bill. I mean I guess I could have asked for change, but hey he can use the extra money to go buy some more food coloring for his hair. Bonus!

Austin was so excited! And that is a total understatement by the way... we went and got him a helmet, still in pajamas, we had to ride it immediately. 3 hours later he finally took off his helmet. We managed to convince him that napping in it wouldn't be so comfy. But, guess what the first thing he asked for when he woke up?...

On a side note....Schmoops and Schoogs relaxing on the deck.

On the move

2011-06-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

9 months yeah! Getting big and starting to crawl! Sat up today all by himself for the first time. The fun is just beginning!

Luke decided he would rather sit up in his crib then sleep today...after 30 minutes of telling his elephant all about it, they both gave up and finally fell asleep. :)

It's exactly what it looks like. It's like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber. "Do you want to hear the most annoying sound in the world?" Luke screams, Austin screams. Austin screams, Luke screams....it's like surround sound screaming. Somehow on mute in the picture, they look pretty cute though.

Booger Butt and Lukie Dukie Schmoopy Woopies

2011-04-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Josh's nicknames for the kids....I'm sure one day we will be paying for therapy sessions as a result....however, Lukie loves him some Austin. No matter how many times Austin takes toys away for him, throws something at his head, or tries to smother him, he still smiles.

Morning snuggling with animals watching cartoons.

I like this video mainly because of Luke's feet. He could be stone faced, but those feet won't lie about the joy he is feeling....and then Austin of course was micromanaging, and the fun had to abruptly end.

Luke and water...I should just say he was probably more excited just about the glass, it was just bonus the water was in there. Too funny.

Head Wound Harry

2011-01-31T12:52:00.000-08:00

Just another Sunday evening. Austin is running around the house laughing and playing. Have a nice dinner planned. My mom was coming over, a little salmon and zucchinni about ready to go in the oven. Potatoes just had been started. Thought I would give Luke a bath quick and get him ready for bed before dinner. Should have known it was the calm before the storm.

We heard the usual fall noise...the trip followed by the crash to the floor. I knew it was a good one because Austin was crying. Josh got to him first, and that's when I heard the "Oh my God!!!" come from his mouth and I knew our night was just about to get interesting.

Apparently in our path of running from living room through the kitchen, Austin decided to take a detour...one that Josh and I are not a fan of and have told him not to do before....he goes on the side of the recliner, steps up on the fireplace, and then jumps down and moves on. Well, the trip happened right before the recliner, and it was head first into the fireplace. Looking back it could have been much worse. He never blacked out or got sick or anything. When we picked him up, he was more upset that his shoe had fallen off.

After a mad dash of ice pack and towel for Austin...his shoe of course...Luke dressed, diaper bag packed of food for both boys, coats grabbed, oven off...potatoes...soon to be ruined, rest of the food thrown in the fridge. We were all in the car on the way to the ER. It was maybe less then 10 min.

Here we are waiting for the doctor. Surprisingly it really didn't bleed too much. It is all open skin there though. Austin was complaining he was hungry. We had passed off Luke and the diaper bag to my mom at the hospital, so now we had no food options for Austin.

Met with the doctor. Got the numbing goo on the forehead, and the doctor got Austin some crackers and juice. A big hit. He perked right up!

We had to wait a while for the numbing gel to kick in, so we had some time to kill. We were trying to explain very positively about what was going to happen to his owie...Fortunately Josh had his own "owie" on his forehead, so it was a good reference for explaining how it was very similar to Austin's owie, and used it in our examples of how they were going to fix it. :)

Sticker and Sumo squats...no idea why the stickers on the knee inspired him to do this, but obviously that juice box kicked in pretty quick. He was pretty pumped to get stickers from one of the nurses. We all had to wear some.

Daddy even had to do the sumo pose too.

It was pretty much down hill from there. They had to restrain him in a sheet and then there was three of us all holding him down. Six stitches later....one broken blood vessel 2 broken strings...that was awesome to watch....He looked like Head wound Harry from SNL with all the blood all over his hair. Poor thing. After about the 4th stitch he had wore himself out from screaming, he told us very nicely that he was all done. He closed his eyes, and just sat there until they finished. I was very proud of myself for waiting to cry until the stitches were finished and I could hold him again. He did tell the doctors, through the sniffles, "Thank you for fixing my owie." It was pretty sweet.

All cleaned up....we all finally had dinner...McDonalds...and retreived Luke from my mom's. Showers for everyone. We were exhausted. Got to bed by 10:30ish. We let Austin sleep with us, so we could watch him. And after we all had some ice cream...the big promise of what was to come after stitches...We all slept pretty good all things considering. A crazy night for sure!

A couple of videos

2011-01-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

My big boys! Austin loves holding Luke....and getting in his face...and grabbing his hand while saying, "fire, fire!"....and rolling all over his playmat while he is on it...and putting everything on the changing table in his crib...and leaving cars on his stomach...and telling me he is doing tummy time also, and when I look down he is laying on Luke...It's never a dull moment.

A couple of videos. Just started on cereal for Luke. Can't believe it's time already. He is so smiley I love it. And a video of Austin rhyming. The first time he sang it he had to really go to the bathroom so it was much more animated, but this one is still humorous.

Two months already?

2010-11-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Time flies when you are delirious. Luke hanging out in the bumbo. He wanted me to shoot him from above because he said it makes his face look thin. :) He is starting to smile a lot which is fun. Austin loves talking to him and making him laugh too..."Ma Ma, baby brudder is miling!"

Aah yes, feeding time....it is always feeding time. I am happy to pass it off when I can. Austin was so proud of himself for helping out. We just had to remind him frequently to hold the bottle, not shove it into his mouth.

After a while though Luke kept looking at me like,...seriously? Are you really going to let him feed me this whole thing?

Oh....two year olds...so helpful...

I had just woken up. Luke was rustling around, so I unswaddled him, and was letting him stretch out in his crib while I fixed a bottle.

Austin had come in to help, and asked me, "Baby brudder wake up?" In my sleepy state I replied, "Yes."

Austin then asked me something about one of the stuffed animals on the adjacent bed being Luke's. In my sleep deprived state I remember thinking to myself....I mean if you want to get technical. Luke can't hold his head up and/or grab an object by himself right now, so NO....the stuffed animal at this point is really just decoration....but instead I realized explaining this to a two year old at that moment would be very exhausting, so I just replied, "Yes, that's Lukes."

.....enter scene....

"What are you doing?!?!?!"

Austin had taken everything off of the bed and put it in the crib with Luke. Being that they were Luke's items...in his head, he thought they should be in bed with him.

Then I got a little closer...let's look at exhibit B....here we have a variety of stuffed animals.....a bib...the comfortable yet stylish Baby Bjorn....a shoe? Apparently it was a grab as much stuff as you can until mom gets back. Yeah, we had a chat about putting things in his crib especially when I am not in the room.

Poor Luke. I guess he better start getting used to it.

In a better moment. Austin and I made oatmeal blueberry muffins the other morning. He had three...

Guess he liked them.

This is soooo my life...

2010-10-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

You could maybe describe this scene as a "blow out." Yikes. I mean having boys it's just a given that you are going to get peed on. There I am diapering, and he starts going again, so it was a mad dash to cover him up, and then the foot gets involved, kicks open the diaper....and what I can only describe as an explosion happened.

All over the changing table, wall...closet....floor...diaper champ...I have never seen such a thing. It was something out of a movie. Like the exorcist it was so unbelievable....so I took a picture. I figured no one would believe me if I didn't.

I mean this is sooo my life. It's not enough that he just pooped out his diaper. Of course it had to be like this massive clean up that took 30 minutes, a roll of paper towels, and several cleaning agents....because I've just got that kind of time.

Here is the little darling in a cuter scene. Aunt Megan sent him this onesie. It says, "My Auntie is #1." The first time he wore it he cried, so I don't know if he was feeling it yet.

It's the little things....

...a nice evening by the chiminea....kid sleeping in the baby ktan....hands free to drink my cold beer....priceless. And...then five minutes later I was asleep too. :)

Little brother big brother. We were having problems coordinating a shot with Austin's eyes open and one where Luke didn't look in pain. So I just settled on the one where they are doing both. Have their matching shirts on. Austin loves hugging on Luke. Especially his face, we are working on that.

Video of Austin singing guitar to Luke. Don't let the eye contact fool you, Luke is totally in to it.

He's Here!! Meet Luke Forbes Steging!

2010-09-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Last picture before heading out the door. Had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. I am 39 weeks

All dressed up in my fancy hose ready for surgery.

Josh in his sweet leisure suit. We laughed because it had a collar. I told him he looked like he was going into Area 51 or something.

Luke's first picture with Mom and Dad!

Getting his vitals. 6lb 12oz, 18 inches born at 8:17 a.m. Has been doing great all day. Nursing really well, and sleeping good. We chose the name because Luke is Josh's middle name, and Forbes is Ryann's dad's middle name. It comes from my dad's maternal grandmother who was full Scottish. Forbes is a an ancient Scottish clan. They even have their own tartan.

All cleaned up. Pretty sweet. Not too much fussing...so far anyway.

In our room, everyone out of their gear, and settling in for the weekend. Everyone is doing great!

First visitors Grandma Patti

Grandma and Grandpa King

Big brother arrived after school to meet Luke. A little shy at first, but he soon was very excited to hold "Wook" and then to pass him back to Dad, saying he was "too heavy."...and then wanted to watch Toy Story the rest of the afternoon. :)

Summer Fun

2010-09-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

We have a great little park right by our house. Austin and I have been hanging out there a lot this summer. It has been a nice go to spot for Austin and I when we are going stir crazy at the house.

I look a smidge pregnant from the side.

So....we were potting a plant, and then he peed his pants. Went to go get him some new ones, and when I came back out he was putting the dirt back in the old pot....pant-less. The front shot was pretty funny, but he would probably kill me in 20 years if I took a picture of that.

Rainman showing off his anal retentiveness. Almost all the colors are in order....taking this kid to Vegas to count cards in a few years.

Sorry he likes to accessorize. In his defense, he did call it his back pack. Josh still didn't think it was as funny as me. He even had a tiny bottle of lotion in there.

New Big boy room. With the baby about to come we moved Austin upstairs. Still revamping, but a little paint, some decals, and voila! Big Boy room. He even said he was done with the choo choo bed. Still on the hunt for some bedding, but its summer, so who needs a comforter.

He wanted to pose by his book shelf. The only furniture in there right now. So far only a few pop up books have met their demise at nap time.

Baby update. Again, same ole' stuff... with some new decals really just makes it a nursery again. Had a sonogram again today to check fluid levels. Apparently, I was low on oil (amnio fluid) last week at my appt. Went back today. Fluids were up a little baby looked fine, but my Dr. was delivering at the time. Go back in the morning to see what she wants to do. I assume I am still on for next Thursday, but will keep you posted if anything changes over the weekend!

4 weeks...4 weeks...4 weeks....

2010-08-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

Don't let the smile fool you. I am sweating profusely. I never knew how much a person could sweat all the time even indoors. Thankfully there is an end in sight. If nothing exciting happens Sept 9th is the official day!!!

Austin and his guitar, we don't crush his ego by telling him he's rocking out on a ukulele.

Always fun when dad makes dinner.

God help us, we are potty training....

2010-06-10T10:43:00.000-07:00

Austin modeling his new Thomas the tank engine underwear. The train set in the background wasn't planted I promise.

He likes the support, yet comfort of the elastic band. He was given the option of the Hanes package of 6 as well, but opted to go with a little style.

It has been 3 weeks since this picture was taken. We still have the majority of the underwear left. A week of the stomach flu looked like it might set us back a notch, but I guess when you have to poop all the time, you learn pretty quick how to do it on the potty. He is getting there. I wouldn't say it is a great success yet, but a start in the right direction. Just working on telling mommy when he has to go before...not right after he already went. May the force be with me. :)

Dr. Austin on duty. Grandma Patti gave him a little animal clinic kit. He loves the stethoscope.

Checking the vitals on his hot wheels car...very serious.

Happy New Year!...belated...

2010-05-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

I admit, I have been a huge slacker when it has come to blogging lately, but I figure I have had a pretty good excuse. Or several good excuses. Most of you know we have been in a "transitional" phase, a.k.a. moving, that took about 6 months longer than we expected. Most of our things have been in storage, including addresses so it feels we have been out of touch. I thought since we were not able to send out a holiday card this year, we would fill everyone in on our shenanigans via blog. So let me go back to the beginning....

Last spring and summer we were still staying cool outside of Iowa City. When we learned that Josh's job of almost a decade, Chrysler Financial, was no longer considered a viable finance company for Chrysler LLC. It started us in action to evaluate what we wanted to do. We decided if Josh was ultimately going to get laid off, then we wanted to move back near family.

We put the house on the market and 31 days later it was sold. We officially moved back to the KC area in August, and Josh stayed in Iowa until he was eventually laid off.

Josh working while moving. Austin taking a break from all the heavy lifting

I took a job at our church with the Parents Day Out program 3 days a week teaching the two year old classes, and so Austin could attend in the baby room.

First Day of school for both of us!

We moved in with my parents while we were looking for a house. Josh took a job in St. Jo, MO which was not close, so at first we had lots to consider in location. We found a house we thought had potential, but it was a short sale. If you know anything about short sales....they are not short. 4 months later.....we got out of the short sale, and started looking again.

We eventually did find another house. We moved in March, and we have been working on it ever since. Josh lovingly refers to it as the money pit. In the past we have always owned newer homes, so....every day it seems we discover another joy of owning a 30 year old house. :) When we do find time to relax we do love our deck, and always enjoy having company!

In those crazy 6 months of being without a home. Josh took another job as the credit manager with MHC Truck Leasing. Much closer than St Jo, and lots of growth potential for him in the future.

We also learned that I was pregnant. We are expecting our second son Sept 14!!! Everything has been going well so far! We are excited!

Austin and I both loved our time at PDO this year. He always looks forward to going to school. All the teachers were so good to him. I am hoping to keep him in the program next year as well. Unfortunately, since I am due in Sept. I will not be able to work there. I took another job this past month at Element Fitness. A gym 3 minutes from our house. I am doing membership sales and just was certified to teach their Body Pump and Body Step classes. It has been challenging, especially doing all this pregnant, but a lot of fun. I have always wanted to get back into teaching aerobics since college. They have a great kids area there. Austin loves "jumping" as he calls it, and the best part is the baby can come with me in the fall.

Austin just celebrated his second birthday. He loves choo-choos, cars, balls, ruffs (dogs), mowing (lawn mower), and talks about them all day long.

He likes to pat my tummy and say "baby", or makes a shushing sound for the baby sleeping. We were snuggling in bed the other morning watching choo-choos. Austin was drinking his milk, and before I knew it he had the sippy cup spout in my belly button saying, "baby mulk"....I had to tell him not to worry, that mommy feeds the baby plenty throughout the day. :)

He is quite the talker that is for sure. Josh is teaching him all about hair bands and air guitar. Even though we deal with the tantrums of a two year old. He can be pretty sweet sometimes too. My favorite is when he says, "Mama, hug."

So here we are, May...Josh and I are about to celebrate our birthdays at the end of the month. New house, new jobs, baby on the way....two year old keeping us on our toes. Did I forget anything? Probably. We hope to do a better job of staying in touch this year. Have a safe and Happy summer!

Love, The Stegings

MEEERRRYYY CHRISTMAS!!!!

2009-12-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

Santa Austin hopes everyone is having a great holiday season. We are staying busy as usual. Holiday cards might be coming out a little late. Considering, all my addresses are in our home computer...that is in storage. :) Hope to be in a house soon. Austin is a crazy man by day. It is hard to get anything done....which is why I guess I am updating my blog at 12:30 a.m.

A cute video of him eating pees and watching Days (of our lives) OK, I was watching Days....he was just dipping all of his food in ketchup. He likes condiments like his mama. Too bad he can't eat ranch. He just doesn't know how good food can be...

October fun!

2009-11-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

A group of us traveled to Hermann, Missouri for their famous annual Oktoberfest. It was a fun night of wine drinking, beer drinking, and camping in city park.

Don't let the name fool you. This town was gorgeous. Here is a shot of one of the wineries we stopped at.

Josh...being that guy drinking wine out of a paper bag...on the hillside...at a winery...by himself....in Hermann, MO.

Halloween came and went. Austin had a good time. He was Wolverine. He loves pumpkins which he fondly refers to as "balls." Close enough...

We even gave him Hugh Jackman chops....and his mask....well, let's just say it didn't fit over his eyes, because his head is larger than the average bear. Oh, well. He probably wouldn't want to wear it over his eyes anyway.

Trunk or treating at our church. Austin and my nephew's Cameron, a.k.a Tiger, and Eric, a.k.a. "A Bat" had a blast. I mean this is pretty much what is looks like trying to take pictures of toddlers, and a 4 year old. They are so wanting to be somewhere else. The fact that they are all relatively facing the same direction is a miracle.

Apparently we are going through a sitting in things phase...

2009-10-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

Oh...look at this tiny box top on the ground, what's this for?...

sitting...

Austin has an odd attachment to the laundry basket. If it is visible he wants to be in it.

This time he had to bring all of his friends and blanket too.

And then there is this box he found......No idea how he fits in there. This thing is like a clown car.

First Day at school!

2009-09-12T13:39:00.001-07:00

For Austin and me. Lots of stuff to bring to work!! I am working at the Parent's Day out program up at our church three days a week, 9:30-2:30. I am working with the 2-3 year olds, and Austin gets to go to the baby room for free!! Bonus! Busy first day for me and him. When I picked him up at the end of the day I was told he had a great first day. He had "colored" a bus. And by colored I mean, a line of green, and line of blue. She also told me I might want to bring him more food for lunch. I was like...yeah, he eats a lot....so...I mean I packed him a whole hot dog, six or seven grapes, about a half a cup of mixed veggies, several teddy grahams. Plus I gave him a snack before I dropped him off. He is an eating machine.

Posing for the camera. Tell grandpa how excited he is for school.

The boys hanging out watching football.

Bump on the noggin'. He fell the other day, like he does a hundred times a day. This time he landed just perfectly so that his head hit the corner of the stereo cabinet. Poor boogerbutt.

Our temporary home for now

2009-08-26T18:27:00.000-07:00

Austin and I are back in KC. Living with the parents for now. Doing lots of house hunting. Starting work in a few weeks.

Austin in his new home eating spaghetti, and being a goof.

Playing in the fountains down town Iowa City before we left.

LAAAAATER IOWA!!!

2009-08-14T10:18:00.001-07:00

We are out like the Gout....

Well, the house is sold, so that means we have to move. We have two ginormous PODS in our driveway as you can see. Since we are homeless for the time being, we felt it was the best way to go since they will just put all of our stuff in storage. My dad came up this week to help. It has been so nice, since Austin doesn't make packing the easiest. Until my dad arrived. The majority of our packing had been done between the hours 8-midnight.

Grandpa and Austin sitting in the POD....too cute.

Tickle monster

2009-07-22T11:38:00.000-07:00

I didn't have a baby pool, so I did the best I could, and used one of my shoe drawers. Some might call it trashy. I call it being resourceful.

Austin Hefner getting ready to hit the tub.

Finally got Austin on video saying tickle tickle. Kind of blurry. Sorry.

Summer Traveling

2009-07-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

Spent the fourth at Josh's dad's house in Sparta Wi. Austin always has fun with cousins Casey and Layney. They all had their flag shirts on.

We also took a trip with all the Stegings in June. We rented a person's property for the week outside of the Wisconsin Dells. A fun touristy town known for waterparks and scenery. The place we stayed at was really great. We had a couple of cabins, lots of trails, ponds, zipline, grills and fire pits all over the place. You could even take a canoe trip out and see a bald eagle nest complete with adults and babies. It was really cool. We took some pics of Austin for his belated first birthday and some family ones too. Using the property as our back drop.

Me on the zip line, I almost made it across with out getting wet. As I threw the line back it got tangled, you can tell Josh was happy about it.

Austin throwing rocks and laughing. This is his new fav thing to do. He is in constant search for rocks to throw.

Our big boy starting to eat with a spoon. He is messy, but is trying.

A little get away with the sisters

2009-06-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

I started working on this post several weeks ago. Guess it has been a little crazy around here. More to come later

For the big 3-0 I decided to jump ship, and visit my sister Megan in Mobile, AL. Our other sister, Tara, joined us as well for the King Girls Mobile Extravaganza....Megan's name...Meg's friend let us borrow their condo for the weekend on the bay. Just a little 3 bedroom, 4 bath shack of a place. We went from sharing one bathroom growing up, to us all being able to shower at the same time. We didn't know what to do with ourselves. It was a great weekend. Ate lots of good seafood. Got a nice tan, and several nice cocktails. It was a fun way to spend my 30th!

View of the bay from our condo

Ahhhh....the beach....

A celebratory glass of wine at the wine loft!!!

Happy Birthday Booger Butt!

2009-05-13T11:34:00.001-07:00

How come I don't feel a year older, but he looks huge!! 22 lbs 9 oz at the doctor, 21 1/2 in for ht, still 50% across the board except for his 80% head. I think that is why he is always falling over.

Austin had his first birthday party the other day. It was fun. We had some fam in town, and a few friends came over to help us celebrate. He really wasn't into his cake. He had like a few courtesy bites since we were all staring at him, but then he was over it. We'll see if he still feels that way next year.

Helping me bake cookies for the weekend. He hugs the oven and puts his mouth on it. I feel the same way about cookies every time I make them.

Birthday breakfast. I mean it might be the same breakfast he gets most days, but that day it had a candle. :)

Grandpa and Grandma King helping open presents.

So, this is what happens when you move to just one nap. Austin has been rejecting his afternoon nap, so we have been just shooting for one, and the kid fell asleep mid bite. Even after cleaning everything up, he was out. He told me later when he woke up, "Sorry for sleeping mom!"

Updates

2009-05-05T19:19:00.000-07:00

Things have been crazy around here to say the least. Josh's job is questionable right now. We are just trying to keep a happy face on and hope for the best. We are thinking about moving back to Kansas City. There I said it. We have a lot to think about, so just keep us in your thoughts. I will update when I know more. Until then. Austin turns one in a few days. I guess I haven't updated his "stats" in a while, so....let's see.

He walks/runs all over the place. Especially when he knows he shouldn't be playing with something.

He says "tickle, tickle, tickle" while moving his hand...it is so cute. I will try and get it on video.

He says Da-Da, and occasionally ba-ba for mama...but usually when prompted to say mama, he stares at you for a few seconds, and then very confidently says "DAD!"

He waves back if you wave at him. Sometimes just not right when you wave at him. He is the late waver. About 30 seconds after walking away he starts waving with both hands.

He is a chatter box in the mornings. I can be half asleep, but his legs are kicking a mile a minute, and his mouth is going just as fast. No idea what he is talking about, but he is excited.

He loves to clap, and point at EVERYTHING...especially lights. Josh has a clapper in his office, (because he is a HUGE nerd), and he has trained Austin to bang on the top of the hard drive to turn it on. If he could do it all day long he would.

Anything that makes noise he loves it. Plastic balls on the wood floor. LOVES IT!!! Josh...hates it.

He's a hugger. I ask him for a kiss, and he gives me the biggest hug. I love it!

Some pics. and a video of him playing with a ball.

Big boy!!

Our eating machine......

This video is lame, I admit. He is just playing with a ball, but it's for the grandparents.

Easter pics and such

2009-04-15T18:42:00.001-07:00

Here is how we start the car ride. Book...check, Toys...check, Hat...check, Socks and shoes...check

And....less than 10 minutes later we have arrived home to....this. I question him as to what happened to everything on the way home, and I get the look..."I'm naughty mama."

2009-04-15T18:41:00.001-07:00

New Layout..I mean I try and mix it up once a year.

2009-03-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Why are naked babies, so cute? Austin gets so excited for bath time he trys to crawl in the tub. Joke was on us though, because he was actually peeing. I stepped in it shortly after this picture was taken. That's why naked babies are really only cute for about 30 seconds.

New hat....that he loves to take off his head and throw. See how I am trying to distract him with a toy so I can get a picture with it on his head....gone are the days of him sitting real still while I take 20 pictures....got to be quick.

Our little monkey walking in his monkey jams.

I've had writers block....

2009-03-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well, not really, I guess I have been sort of anti blogging lately. Not for any particular reason, just being lazy I guess. I have thoughts like....I should put that on the blog, and then I don't. Josh and I were gone for a while. We were looking at daycare/jobs options for me, but nothing has come of it. We just got a laptop for me, so that I can blog more. That way I don't have to worry about Josh being out of his office. I had my first real spa with beauti control like two years later, so hopefully I will start bringing in a little more income these days. So...pretty much that summed up our past 5 weeks.

Austin gets busier by the hour. We have survived a few bumps and bruises on the head. He has no fear that is for sure. He no longer crawls like a fish out of water. He started taking his first real steps this week too, so that has been exciting.

Loves his new overalls from Grandma King, and his shoes from Grandma Patti! He looks pretty cute.

He likes pointing at light....and ceiling fans...

Couple of videos of his latest activities.

Starting to walk a little....a.k.a. moving while falling forward.

Dancing on the piano.

Who doesn't like a high five?

2009-01-27T12:24:00.000-08:00

Austin thinks high fives are HILARIOUS....

What is that behind the mirror....?

Oh, it's my son....naughty....I left the room for 2 seconds. Today I found him stuck underneath one of the dining room chairs. He couldn't figure out how to get back out. I pretty much run on tylenol and caffeine.

p.s. Did you notice Josh's perfect pushup in the first pic. Got him that for x-mas last year. He was like, doing pushups on those are hard...uh, yeah, they don't call it the perfect really easy pushups?

For your viewing pleasure

2009-01-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

Austin and I were getting stir crazy in the house, so we bundled up and hit the pavement getting the mail and taking a stroll around the neighborhood in his buggy.

Decided to post some videos of Austin now that he is getting busier for those folks who don't get to see him very much.

Austin playing...

Austin laughing...

Austin army crawling, and piano playing...

It's a New Year after all!

2009-01-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

We spent a lot of time in Kansas for the holidays. Going back and forth between all the families was overwhelming at times, but I think would I really want it any other way? In the midst of all that we managed to misplace our camera, so the one picture we have from Christmas is with Stella, my sister Megan's dog, and Austin.

Back at home we busted out Maria's ride she got for Austin. He loves it. He is stone faced the whole time he is in it...check exhibit b

Exhibit B...

After several minutes of trying to talk to the other baby, he gave up and starting eating the mirror.

Perpetrating in the new car seat.

OK, so we don't know if this is a fluke or not, but 90% of the time Austin waves if you wave at him. The other 10% is both hand waving...(which can be confused with excitement), clapping of hands, or just staring in confusion and drooling. Regardless, it is all very entertaining.

I love Snow!!!

2008-12-17T14:13:00.000-08:00

You know you have lived in Iowa too long when the phrase..."Oh, no, we didn't get too much snow last night just 5 or 6 inches..." comes out of your mouth.

Austin thought it was fun for about...2 seconds.

...so we came inside and took a picture.

7 months

2008-12-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Austin celebrated his 7 month birthday by being sick. He had been waking up a few nights in a row in the middle of the night which was odd. After the 3rd night of rocking and shushing...we were ready to start the tough love. He was so sad. I finally went in there, and he was burning up 101 fever, then I felt really bad for making him wait so long. Just snotty cold nothing else. The few days his fever was high he didn't want to do much of anything but lay on Josh and I luckily it was part of the weekend, and we could trade off. Even with his fever eyes, and bright red cheeks he managed to give us a smile every now and again. He is feeling better, and we are looking forward to Christmas!!

This is his, I'm going to crawl, but then sits back up and is like just kidding... He is lazy/smart because if he can figure out a way to pull whatever he wants towards him he is golden, otherwise, he just gives up and moves on to something else.

I feel like this picture he looks like he is in a rap video like as one of the friends of the singer that is there just to make random phrases into the camera...like, "Yeah!"..."uh!"..."What! What!"...or just starts sporadically laughing...no..just me?

Top reasons for visiting Iowa...

2008-12-02T11:04:00.000-08:00

...Like you need an excuse.

Tis the season...

2008-11-24T20:43:00.001-08:00

Here's to the holidays and overindulging on food and beverages. Ordering the big beer at dinner always sounds like a good idea until you forget you are dealing with a 6 month old. After high chair issues, sterilizing the area, picking up toys off the floor, moving everything in arms reach across the table, feeding him...he finally gets settled, and you are like...

"shhhh...is he asleep?...ok, he's asleep?...can someone pass me my warm beer?...ok,...can you help me, his arm is stuck...look, just put the glass to my lips...never mind, just hold his arms...ok, no, I'm good...I'm good..."

Yep...it's winter.

2008-11-20T15:37:00.000-08:00

Brrrr....it is cold out there. I am worn out just getting him ready to go out the door. Fortunately, by the time I am done, I am so sweaty I don't need my coat..bahdum, dum....ching?

This is how it starts...coat and son goes in...he can't move...I laugh, get camera....Austin gives me the courtesy smile...and then is like, ok, Mom, seriously I'm stuck.

Mmm...dinner, so far he likes all food...just like his parents. As you can tell he is by no means malnourished. He doesn't want dinner to end. Even getting mad when I take the spoon away. At which point I usually reply with some form of "Get mad about it!" or Josh might throw in a, "You're about ready to get a spankin' son." You know, we like to mix it up. He looks pretty cute in his elephant shirt from Lisa though. :)

The ever growing 3 strands of hair. He pretty much has the head of a senile 80 year old man. He has like 4 strands sticking up on end, holding onto the patch in the back, and then has a couple of crazy one's that are like insanely long for no reason, and of course won't lay flat. It is hard to take it all in, since it is all blond. But it keeps the conversasche flowing that's for sure.

Side view. I think he looks like Spike from the Gremlins...magwai cute spike, not eating after midnight Gremlin Spike.

Jumping in his jumperoo...rain forest theme...he kind of likes it....

We're back...

2008-11-11T14:43:00.001-08:00

Austin and I have been traveling for the past few weeks, but are back at home to Iowa and blogging. Austin just turned 6 months. Pretty average across the board except for his ginormous head. We just bought him this hat thinking it would last through the winter, but I don't know....it is already fitting on the noggin' just perf.

Our first stop was Austin, TX...ha, ha Austin in Austin....we went to my cousin's wedding. Got to have lunch with Lisa, although we were unable to get any pics, we still had a fabulous time holding each other's kids. :)

Josh headed home. While me, my parents and my sister Tara and her family headed to San Antonio to see some of my dad's fam. Here is Grandma and Austin having lunch on the river walk.

Grandpa killing time before our flight taking Austin for a stroll.

It was a fun trip. We left the 70's of Texas to arrive home to Iowa...where it was snowing. Josh said welcome back. Austin has become quite the seasoned traveler. My uncle asked how many states he has been in so far. I was like....only Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Texas....I mean that's pretty average for a 6 month old right?

No wonder I am so tired.

Halloween and the giggle box.

2008-10-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

Went to a Halloween party Friday night. You knew one of us was going to be wearing a wig.

These guys are who Josh and I are dressed up as. They both are friends of ours that work at the University hospital. We joke that our kids get Josh and Jerry confused all time because they are both bald. "Jerry's" name tag said he specialized in free mammograms. Travis, the guy I am dressed as, has an antibacterial lotion problem, so I wore some around my neck. He asked to borrow it several times that night. I ended up just giving it to him

Here is our little Tigger complete with his baby shocks on. We figure between Josh and I he is going to need all the help he can get with his "ups".

This is the only thing I do that makes Austin giggle uncontrollably. I apologize for it being repetitive and annoying, but hey, whatever makes him laugh.

On the move.

2008-10-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Snoozing...Why he likes to get himself in the most confining position? I have no idea. Also, love the hair?...He is holding on to that last patch as long as possible.

Austin, rollin' in his first set of wheels.

Later he started singing Ice Ice Baby while he was crusin'. He was all like, "Girlie's on the stand by waiting just to say hi....Did you stop?..No I just rolled by. Kept on, pursuing to the next stop...." Ok, he didn't really sing that. But it would have been cool if he did.

They grow up so fast.

2008-10-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

Just another beautiful day here in Iowa. A warm 53 degrees with just a slight haze in the air. Might be getting the ole' suit on later and catching some pneumonia.

Amazing how much they grow in such a little time. I have been reminiscing with pictures. Today Austin's new trick was rolling over in the middle of the night. I forgot to take his stuffed animal out of his crib, and this morning I found him completely turned around, laying on his doggy like a pillow, head to the side singing and squealing.

Just some look how big he is getting pictures. Love this one of him and Josh....fast forward a few months...it was like a wrestling match trying to get him to sit still for the camera, obviously didn't work.

Ahhh bath time, so sweet with my yellow child with a separated cranium. Be very gentle, not too much water...what a relaxing experience.

Now it's like....OK, hold still, no more splashing....water is all over the place, quit putting the wash cloth in your mouth...it's like the fastest bath in the Midwest...partly my fault since I have been putting off the real tub as long as possible, but alas it's time. sniff...my little boy is all growsed up.

Postpartum depression study: Uh, will this be multiple choice?

2008-10-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I guess some perks of living in a college town is the opportunity to participate in lots of research studies. I vaguely remember someone at the hospital after Austin was born, telling me that people might contact me to see if I would be willing to take part in these projects. I was called last week asking if I would answer some questions about postpartum depression. At first I was like, uh, how long is this going to take? She said just a few minutes, and they would pay me $5. Hey, 5 bucks is 5 bucks. I mean that's a Starbucks ladies. So, of course I agree. Then they might call me again for a follow up. Which would be a little bit longer...$20. Hello new part time job. :)

So fast forward to the second interview. Now if you would have asked me before all this began if I had suffered from postpartum depression? I might have said...sure, I mean at the beginning. Just adjusting, and finding a niche after baby, I'm sure I had some feelings of "depression", but obviously not the Family Guy episode portrayal of postpartum depression...when Peter is constantly dunking Stewie in the water, and he says...look Lois, I'm sad about stuff...love that show...Anyway, don't want to harm myself or child...no. Have I ever been so frustrated with my child, that I could maybe throw like a pillow across the room?...sure.

So, I get into the more in depth interview, and I'm thinking the talk is going to be focused on like right after having the baby. I was really surprised that she was focusing more on this past month. As she is asking me these questions, I'm like...yeah, I've been feeling this way. Yeah, I've been anxious, and sad, and tired, and moody, and unmotivated....I just thought that was called being a girl. So, $20 later, I am now having a personal interview. If they feel like I am still a candidate for the study, then they will put me in a treatment program that is part of the research as well. So, been kind of interesting for sure. Will keep you posted.

On the other side of things Austin was asked to be in a movement/memory study for babies. He didn't get paid, but he did get a free toy, so that was kind of fun. Loving the college town.

If you have made it this far, I guess you could call this my postpartum depression problem solver.

The question being...What happens when you find your son in the morning hungry and crying, but he has managed to pee all over himself and the crib?

Answer: You throw the first outfit you can find on him...take it all in the shapes, the colors, it was early and dark....and only later that morning did I realized the heinousness that is this outfit.

I couldn't resist.

2008-10-01T18:52:00.001-07:00

My neighbor was having a garage sale last weekend, and I had to buy these pants. They were so ugly, they were cute. They are like western themed "zuba" pants. Josh thinks they horrible, but whatev. And his shirt says I love "moomy" with a cow on it. I was laughing the whole time I dressed him. It's the little things...

Getting ready for our morning walk. It was chilly out there.

Scary monkey video and blowing spit bubbles...good times.

Weekend Fun!

2008-09-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Austin getting ready for lunch. He was all smiles because he likes food like his mom. He looked pretty cute in his bib from Chancy!

This picture makes us look like horrible parents. This was while we were eating dinner at a wedding this past weekend.

"Where's you son?"
"Oh, it's cool...he's under the table...sure I'll take another beer."

Austin cheese-ing it up for the camera

Lazy Sunday with Dad.

Bath time!!! He has a diaper on, but in the bumbo it looks like not so much....the muffin top is hiding it.

I'm about ready to move to Vegas and put this kid in Cirque De Sole...I'm not even mad, I'm impressed.

Austin spending some quality time with his feet. I don't know why it is so funny to watch?

4 months old!

2008-09-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Our little chunk turned 4 months the other day. He and I both got our updated shots today. I went first telling him it wasn't that bad. He was all smiles until the nurses stuck him. He was looking at one of the nurses this time instead of me, so I think he blames her. It went better than I thought. Not too much crying. He is weighing in at 15 lb and 6.6 oz, so about average. His head is like 85%, so I'm like maybe it was a good thing he was a c-section baby.

Favorite past time is grabbing his feet. Stopping only to eat. He tries to hold onto them then too, but also wants to hold onto the bottle, and my hands...so he is still working on multi-tasking.

Me and Austin getting ready to go out to eat. Big night on the town. Well, at least from 6-7:30 anyway. Great weather here in Iowa, hoping it will last.

Austin is developing so fast he and Josh are now reading the same book. Austin enjoys the in depth squeaking noises that some pages make, while Josh just likes the pictures.

Went home for the week and had him baptised in my family church. Both fams were there to help celebrate. He did really good. All smiles for the baptism, fussed a little during the service, Josh handed him over, and he promptly fell asleep on me the rest of the time.

This is how we roll these days in the neighborhood. Checking on the mail and flowers. We might even go on a short walk up the street. I know we get crazy.

This is how we roll in the car. More stuff in his car seat. I'm like whatever keeps him happy.

Grandma and her boys. Austin had a lot of fun with all of his cousins when we were home. Caught his first cold too while he was there. Josh and I were really missing getting up all hours of the night, so that was fun. Glad he is starting to feel better, and sleep through the night again.

Day at the beach...ok, reservoir.

2008-08-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Pre-kid day at the beach:
Noon: wake up, have a bloody mary
12:30-6pm: Hit the beach, drink, play catch and or drinking games, tan one side 30 min., swim, tan other side 30 min., swim, repeat rest of the afternoon. Go home and get ready to go out with a nice golden tan all over your body.

Beach with kid:
6 a.m.-noon: feed baby, play, nap, feed baby, play, nap, vacuum and pick up house, mow the lawn.
noon-2:00-get together everything needed for beach and baby, feed baby, play, nap.
2:00-2:30 Finally at beach....feed baby hunched under an umbrella, because you forgot chairs.
2:30-2:40 play catch with husband, because he has talked about it all morning, while baby hangs out on blanket staring at sand.
2:40-baby starts crying so take him to water to put his feet in.
2:42-baby starts crying
2:45-put baby back in car seat to relax and hopefully nap...
2:45 and 30 sec-baby starts screaming
2:50-3:15 walk baby around under shade tree to try and calm down...switching off with husband so you can jump in the water for 2 seconds to cool off.
3:15-3:45-rock baby under umbrella hunched over because you forgot the %$#^ chairs!!
3:45-3:55-baby falls asleep and you attempt to put him back in his car seat.
3:55-4:00-baby wakes up and starts screaming, pour out your warm beer you had 2 sips from. Pack everything up and go home.
Put the kid down for a nap, and go and play corn hole in the back yard with husband with a nice golden tan on your shins.

Keep Austin weird.

2008-08-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

Here is Austin supporting local business's in Austin. Of course we couldn't resist getting him this onesie.

Look how mad he is at me. Do you think it's because he feels the koozie is too much?

I'm kind of a big deal....

2008-08-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

Austin's crib smells of rich mahogany, and he has many leather bound books....

Josh loves Anchor Man, so where he found this shirt I have no idea.

He loves his new hat!!

I just think this picture is cute. I was tickling his feet.

This is what happens when I leave Josh alone with him for 2 seconds. Sorry he likes big sunglasses like the celebrities.

We went to a dinner party the other night. The theme was Olympics, so every course was from a different country. Josh and I had to dress up...(yes, we were the only ones.) We were the silver medal ping pong champions. Silver, because it was easy to make, and Josh told everyone USA never wins gold in ping pong. Austin was on the baseball team.

Compare and Contrast

2008-08-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

There is a teaching term for you.

So here is a picture of me and Austin at 3 months. I think Austin has my smile for sure. And why is everything in the 70's yellow?

Sigh...his hair...it's almost so sad it's funny. Josh wants to cut it. I'm like babies can get away with a patch on their head here and there.

Just in case you were wondering yes, the other side looks the same.

His rooster tail on top just waving in the wind.

Had him in his "car", and found this cute hat that said vroom, vroom, on it....uh....3-9 months my a**. He looks like an elf.

Austin trying to help dad clean out the junk drawer. I never knew scissors, and paper clips were so mesmerizing.

Bird therapy....he has been doing this a lot lately. Just rolling on his side, and chatting with the bird.

3 months old!

2008-08-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

My blue eyed boys hanging out together.

Drooling and flexing my feet in the bumbo seat. This thing is awesome. Put him in this on the counter, while I am cooking, he loves it.

Such a snob. He will only take baths now if he has his robe on before and after.

Josh came into our bedroom and said, "Why have we not figured this out yet?" I came out and see him staring at the TV, just loving life. Of course he likes friends like his mom.

You know you've been married awhile when...

2008-08-06T09:51:00.000-07:00

Your husband buys you a gift certificate to Vicroria's Secret for your anniversary, and you come home with pajama bottoms. Not silk or satin....good ole' 100% cotton pajama bottoms.

I've never been happier.

Hanging out with the boy.

2008-07-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

Look at this chunk. Actually, I sent this picture to my family today with the subject line, Jan King in the house.

Just waking up...typical man, hand on his balls and all. Now this picture was taken the day before the first picture. It looks like he gained 5 lbs over night. Weird...

Why? Why?

He's got his wife beater on. To which Josh replied....(in baby voice)...."Are you going to go get a can of Bush Light and give Mommy two black eyes?"

Big eyes and sneezes...

OK, now this video...so, he decided to get his lean on and roll over. Well, the first time I missed it, the second time I recorded it....only, I didn't hit record until it was over, so that was pretty much just Austin staring at the camera and me cussing in the background. So, third time was basically just on principal, but by this time he is getting mad, so there was a little prompting on my part. Enjoy...and p.s. check out the hair. It's like two different heads of hair. Like no hair in the front and all patchy and long in the back. It's the baby mullet. Business in front, party and patchy in back...HEY!!!

Misc...and what nots...

2008-07-28T12:31:00.000-07:00

(Sigh)...the boy's got eczema...Well, he did. I have been lubing him up like crazy with some medicashe and aquaphyllic lotion. The stuff is awesome. Anyway, here he is eczema'd out, he looks so much better.

Austin's new girlfriend...I talk like in his short life of 3 months he's had so many. But, anyway...long story short, I made a friend...she has a little girl 2 months older than Austin. So we are BFF. Here they are playing footsie. Austin's trying to play it cool.

I just like this picture because it looks like he is telling a bad joke..."Horse walks into a bar..." No?

I think this scenario is pretty self explanatory...moral of the story is we don't get out much.

It's 5 am...what do you do?

2008-07-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

You take a picture of your son, because you think it looks like a picture of a monkey on a bookmark. Yes, lots of things are funny at 5 am...infomercials....sorry..."paid programming"...bad movies....sleep...actually...sleep is what you start to resent the other person in the house for doing at 5 am. :)

And some days....you shoot for this....a child sleeping beautifully in his crib.

(Josh's comment...I swaddled him like nobody's business.)

But most days...you are thankful for this...a child sleeping beautifully in his swing.

Austin's first lowrider...he's got his lean on.

Looking through some picture albums the other day, found this one...this was my 21st birthday in college. Josh just turned 23, we had been dating for 2 months. Josh says..."Look at all that luscious hair."

I wish you could see that top...halter...the back v-ed open at the bottom, like a tepee...why?...who wants to see lower back/love handles...especially in black pants. You know what I'm talking about ladies. Everyone had black going out pants in college...they were tight, they flared at the bottom, and you had to constantly febreeze them because they reeked of bar and cigarettes.

8 years later...here we are celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary. First date night out without Austin, we were dropping him off at our friend's for the evening. Little less hair...little more l.b.'s...plus baby...can't complain too much. :)

More flood pictures

2008-07-14T17:46:00.001-07:00

Ok, here is the Coralville Reservoir spillway mid flood...and...

...here it is as of 2 days ago, guess it's a parking lot, and there's a beach to the left. Yes, there is a beach in Iowa...with real sand and everything. Not so pretty after the flood, but what can you do?

Here is the aftermath of the spillway spilling over...craziness

Couldn't resist a couple pics of Austin. My friend Brooke sent me this Polo outfit for Austin. So cute...he looks like he is getting ready to go sailing in the Hamptons.

More videos... p.s. the back of that onesie says...Potty like a rockstar.

Traveling...growing...and picture taking.

2008-07-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Our big boy just turned 2 months. He's come along way from looking like an alien baby at birth. Stats, 11.2 lbs, and 23 1/4 long. Pretty much average across the board. Austin and I went home for a week to see some friends and fam, then headed back to Iowa to scoop up Josh on our way to Wisconsin where we spent the 4th with his family. Updated pics of our travels are on Austin's webpage.

Here Austin is singing for his living.

Ready to hit the beach with his shades...yes, we have too much time on our hands...

Cute video of Austin and his dad.

This one's for the grandparents....

2008-06-23T20:12:00.000-07:00

Too big to send by email, so had to do a quick blog of him playing for the folks.

I love this picture.

2008-06-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when Austin gets fussy, and nothing seems to be working we put him in his crib. It's funny, because he gives himself a time out of sorts. He will zone out, stare at his mobile for a little bit, and then will give us the fake cry to let us know when he is done. This was one of those times, and when I went back in to check on him he was sitting like this. Holding his paci in his mouth, legs crossed staring at his stuffed animals. It looks like he is in a therapy session. He's like..."Look, the baby gym was getting scary....this bird just kept staring at me...I mean you understand right? I'm not at the gym to meet people."

This video was from last time we were in KC with my fam. I won't ruin it for you...but there might be some miming...Austin punching Cameron...and my dad embarassing himself.

Iowa Rules!!!

2008-06-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Worst winter ever...and now the worst flood ever. Or, as the newscasters have cleverly called it...the "FLOODS OF '08"!! Why did we move here again? Now these floods are apparently worse than the floods of '93, for everyone else who has no idea what I'm talking about. There were bad floods in '93...this was worse. Fortunately for us the worst thing that happened was losing our phone/internet for 3 days, so I can't complain too much. The closest it got to us was a few miles away. The river breached a main road in town. Several of Josh's dealers were affected. One of our favorite places to eat was flooded to the roof, so that's sad. Here are some pics from around town.

This is the Coralville Resevoir spillway...as you can see spilling over...

Josh went down to check on one of his dealers and snapped this pic. Craziness...This is just a few miles from our house in Coralville.

Pic of me and Austin, he looks so tiny in my arms...

He is turning into a smiley boy! I like this picture, because I think he kind of looks like me. Don't be a dream assasin Maria, I know he looks like Josh. :) I just mean his smile does.

Laughing for the camera!

Bored with a baby...

2008-06-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

This is what happens, when your weekends of sleeping and drinking are replaced with a newborn.

Fun with Baby Bjorn...

He is the swaddle blanket Houdini...2 min into nap...legs out...another couple of minutes and the arms would have followed.

Fun with video...

It's been so long since I've blogged...

2008-06-04T19:40:00.000-07:00

My sister, Megan gave me this book when I was prego. Fit Mama...it's like one of those cute books you see in a baby boutique. Since at the time I had lots of time on my hands subbing...I read it, in one class period, (and then was bored out of my mind the rest of the day)...and it had some good pointers, especially for immediately after baby. Now, I know what you're thinking...who is thinking about working out a week after the baby is born, when you are still trying to find time to brush your teeth...you're right. Totally not thinking about it...but fast forward to 4 weeks later, where...not only have I found time to brush my teeth, but occasionally have found time to shower. It might not happen in the usual time, but I can usually now shower some days...get dressed, AND dry my hair in under 12 hours. I don't know how I do it?...I must be Superwoman.

Anyway, back to the book. It has some good and seemingly easy (mostly breathing) exercises that help you find those ab muscles you b*tched and moaned about how flabby they were pre-kid, until post kid...when you now realize that if someone accidentally put their hand on your stomach not only would they lose it up to the elbow, but you could actually wrap the remainder skin around their arm like silly putty.

So, I'm in...bring on the easy breathing exercises...OK, 1) breath in and out focusing on using the diaphragm 10 times a day....DONE! I breath all day long. Especially, when I'm going Baby Whisper-er on Austin a** with the shushing trying to get him to not scream, for no reason at all, every night between 5 and 6.

2) Now this is for those of you with the diastis recti muscles mishap..Lani, you know what I'm talking about...where your ab muscles hated pregnancy so much that they split, and allowed some type of jelly like material to come through in its place...like, when you were forced to sit up on your own 41 weeks pregnant...when the doctor just left you laying on the table after telling you your contractions don't mean anything, and you are still only dilated 1 cm, and oh, yeah, they can't induce for another 4 days......(deep breath), but I digress... so here's the exercise. Lay on back, cross your arms on either side of your abs, holding them together. Breath out as you lift your head up. I'm like...easy...I'm usually laying on the ground at least once a day praying that Austin will sit in his swing for more than 2 minutes without crying.

Oh, but wait....what's this? How do you hold, what feels like pudding together? I couldn't get my hands to stay on the side of what I'm assuming used to be my abs to contract anything. I felt like I was mixing a bowl of meatloaf trying to make this one work....I persisted...surely this will...no,...there go my hands...sliding together again, unable to get a hold of any solid matter...it was like clawing at a ball of dough...

Needless to say, I have put fit mama on hold for the time being.

Don't be scEER..ed...

2008-05-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

I think the many faces of Josh has been passed on to Austin...he's looking everywhere but the camera...and of course it doesn't help that I'm laughing the whole time. This poor kid, doesn't have a chance.

He's like enough just feed me already!!

And what's the deal? Do the people who make shorts for old men, also make them for newborns? They are like up to his armpits.

And here's the difference...

2008-05-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

...between how I take a picture with Austin and how Josh takes a picture with him.

The sad thing is we have about a hundred pics of Josh making the same face holding a beer.

And sorry for getting a hair cut. Little shorter than what I was going for...but it's summer...I'm breezy.

Back home

2008-05-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

A little Mother's Day kiss for my little guy. It's hard to be upset about the lack of sleep and when he's crying when he falls asleep on you like this. We are back home as of Sat. Things of course have been going day by day. Austin has done a great job of initiating us. He peed on Josh the morning we left the hospital. Peed through his diaper and all over our comforter 2 hours into being home. Pooped out of his diaper on the changing table, and in the wee hours of the morning kicked open his diaper and peed on the table. Got to keep that sense of humor up for sure!!

We already nicknamed him "the turtle." He tucks in his bottom lip like this. Especially after nursing and you prop him up to burp him, he's got his little lip in and no neck. It's pretty funny.

Josh started a webpage for Austin for pictures and updates for friends and fam. Added it to the blog. Check it out if you get a chance.

Meet Austin!

2008-05-08T20:00:00.001-07:00

Austin King Steging

Born May 7, 2008 2:01 a.m.

8lb 1oz 20 1/4 in

It was a long awaited arrival, but it all happened so fast. Our induction that was set for Thursday we found out Tuesday at 4pm, that it was moved to Wednesday morning, and we were to go into the hospital Tuesday night at 7 pm for some prep work...a.k.a. cervix ripening gel. Now remember I had been having regular contractions about 10 min apart since Sat. So, we get in still only dilated to 2 cm, and the contractions are about 6-7 min apart. Still not close enough for there liking...the magic number being 5 min. I get the gel, sit for a couple of hours, check me again, no change...but the contractions intensity are starting to get much worse. Still send me home, tell me to take an ambien to help sleep, and will start induction at 7 in the morning.

Get home about 10pm, take the ambien STAT do some stuff around the house get ready for the next day....get in bed around 11ish....11:45 mid dream contraction....POP...I yell out to Josh, Oh, my gosh, my water just broke....and man, they weren't joking about that gush of fluid....more like a soaker hose..but anyway, getting back to the story. Now, my ambien dazed self, Josh and my parents arrive back at the hospital by 12:15. The ambien, doing absolutely nothing for the contractions I am now having which are more like 3 min apart, and I feel like I'm going to go into shock everytime I have one.

Check me again, now dilated to a 3, but says, we could give you an epideral, since you are contracting pretty hard on your own. Praise the lord!!! But...she says, I just want to bring in the nurse to do a quick sonogram, because I'm not sure if that was his butt or his head I was feeling. And here's where it just got crazy....pretty much found out at 12:45 he was breech...in the OR by 1:15...and he was born by c-section at 2:01. Let me tell you that spinal tap did not come soon enough...but after that I was on drug overload, ambien, spinal tap...morphine...not so good on the ole' stomach. I think I puked in every single room I was in that night, OR, recovery and Mother and baby room. AWESOME.

It's funny how these things work out. Austin came out with he cord wrapped around his neck 3 times. The first day he was having a hard time keeping his temp up, but has been on antibiotics and has really perked up since then and looks even different today than yesterday, so sending some updated pics. I'm doing well. Looking forward to getting the staples out of the belly, but no complaints. I'm glad he is here and healthy. Thanks for everyone's well wishes, emails, and phone calls! He is a cutie!!

Smiling for the camera!!

Kicking it with dad...taking care of my grease bonnet in the background.

"Squakin" as Josh calls it with Grandma King

Staying warm with Grandpa King

Hopefully the last update...

2008-05-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

After 3 crappy hours of sleep, where I just incorporated my contractions into my nightmares. I almost woke Josh up at 4 am, because I couldn't take it anymore. I was like, I don't care if they send me home again...I need drugs....but I eventually decided I could deal with it until 9am. So at our appt., have a contraction in the parking lot, bathroom, twice hooked up to the stress test....but just our luck the paper had run out, so didn't record any of them. Had another one while they are refilling the paper. Of course the Dr. comes right back in, and says..."Have you had any contractions today?" I mean I'm going on no sleep, and she's already come in and told us, that we aren't getting in until Thursday for the induction, unless someone cancels.

So, I had already decided Josh will be the designated "talker" at these appts., because if I talk several things could happen...a)crying...and or b)angriness and hate will spew from my mouth. Which would be bad for everyone. So, check the cervix...drum roll please!!!!....not quite a 2...you've got to be freaking kidding me...but this is the first time she could feel his head, and cervix was softer. She's like, I wish there was something we could send you in for like if he wasn't moving....but, then they would just look at his heart rate, and he is still having a party in there.

The positives: I left with some ambien to help sleep...writing this now, it was a beautiful thing last night. My parents came up yesterday. It's nice having them here for distraction for Josh and I. Still a chance we could get in for Wed., but Thursday is the day people!!

...(SIGH)...41 weeks...

2008-05-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry I'm going to b*tch and moan for a sec. So, wake up Friday night/Saturday morning to some pretty intense contractions that are not going away. I'm like...well, I'll just monitor them, see if they don't change yada...yada...Josh had plans to go play golf, I go about the rest of my day mixing it up seeing if these contractions stop at all....They don't...so basically from like 8:30 to 3:00 I'm having contractions every 10 min. Yeah, and by the time Josh gets home...I'm pretty much in pain, and to the point of tears when these things are coming on. So, call Labor and Deliv, describe the situasche...and they tell me to come in.

I go in...yes, having contractions every 10 min. And dilated to....1....I'm sorry what?!?!?!?! Pretty sure I was at a one 36 hours ago when I wasn't having contractions. 2 hours later nothing has changed. I think they felt bad for me so they threw in a dilated between 1 and 2. But, after talking to my doctor and no water breaking, baby's head is still high, they send me home. They were like, but come back if they are 5 min apart. Because...10 min, apart and painful is just crazy talk..that's just too irregular.

Obviously, I'm disappointed, because this is exactly what I didn't want to happen, but the saving grace was, well we go back to the doctor Monday and then inducing Tuesday, right? Oh...just kidding. As Josh said, adding insult to injury. As we are getting ready to leave the nurse comes in and says, well, we have you on the books for Thursday to induce...I'm like, you mean Tuesday...she's like, no Thursday...(deep breath...tears...welling...)..."What? Our doctor said she was going to make it for Tuesday." She's like, oh, well, we probably didn't have an openings until Thursday...but I wouldn't expect you to make it until then. OK, fine that's all well and good, and would make me feel a lot better if YOU WEREN'T SENDING ME HOME!!!!

So...today has been AWESOME. Contractions still on avg every 10 min....and still REALLY painful....I've tried everything in the world to make them feel better...but alas...no water breaking, and no contractions every 5 min., ultimately the things we need to send us back to the hospital....so, back to the dr. tomorrow at 9:45, we'll see what happens. I'm really, really, really, really trying to stay positive...and really, really, really hoping I can sleep tonight.

So....my due date was last Sunday...

2008-05-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Went back to the doctor Wed., and today. Not much progression. Did a stress test, he is still very happy. Dilated 1 cm, but his head is very high up. She said she would set the induction date for Tuesday. We will go back Monday to check everything again, and then depending on what my cervix is like will possibly go to the hospital Monday night for a hormone pill to help ripen my cervix, and then go back Tuesday to induce.

It's frustrating, and I'm umcomfortable. The past couple days I've been having some pretty intense contractions, so it was annoying to not have much change from Wed...but I'm happy that the baby is healthy, and things are progressing...and that there is an end in sight. At the last couple of my appts., I had been very emotional for various reasons, so when we were there Wed., I told Josh that if we went to Chipotle for lunch afterwards I promised not to cry. :) In honor of this thing coming to an end, I stole Lisa's idea and threw in a slideshow of the belly progression.

Come out Baby Austin!!!

2008-04-27T18:55:00.000-07:00

40 weeks along. Apparently Austin has not received the memo that it's time to come out. I even got an email from one of those weekly pregnancy newsletters congratulating me on 38 weeks of gestation....I'm like, whoever wrote that has obviously not gestated for 38 weeks.

Go back to the doctor Wed. will do a non-stress test on the baby to make sure he is still enjoying himself in there. My vote is probably so. After that we will set up an induction date for the following week. My doctor says very calmly...we don't like you to go past 41 weeks. THANK GOD FOR THAT! So, the latest we are looking at is the 6th or 7th.

Everyone has their theories of why he's not here yet. The most popular though is..."He's a King so of course he's late...."

My nephew Eric was so cute, he has been talking to Austin all week. Giving my belly a pat, and telling him to come out and play. It's a 2 part-er, 3 year olds don't always get it on the first take. :)

Visitors

2008-04-27T18:52:00.001-07:00

My sister Tara and nephews, Eric and Cameron, came to visit for the week. They had come to help if I went into labor or distract me from thinking about that I haven't gone into labor yet. Needless to say we have found many distracting things to do.

Lots of walks, mini trips to the mall, and local shops. It's been fun having them around. The boys are too cute. Here we are by the Iowa River, the boys in their matching big and little brother shirts.

My brother in law Joe joined us this weekend, and we celebrated Eric's 3rd birthday at Chuck E. Cheese. Always, fun. Eric enjoyed pushing buttons on the machines...Joe and Josh enjoyed beating the other dads in pop-a-shot. Everyone was happy.

Cameron thinks Josh is pretty funny...looking. He is probably wondering why they have the same hairstyle.

One more...er..uh...one to three weeks to go!!

2008-04-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

39 weeks...so close, yet so far away. I'm like one week I can jump on board...3 weeks, sounds like a long time. Things are progressing slowly but surely, but pretty much it means nothing unless you go into labor...and obviously I haven't done that yet. :)

Just a smidge uncomfortable...which is sarcasm for, I never knew that so many parts of my body could hurt or fall asleep after 10 min of being in one position. Examples you say?

Standing: This probably feels the best, but ultimately the swelling wins in the end turning ankles into cankles, and making the varicose veins throb.

Recliner: great for cankles, however the small space between my chest and upper torso somehow always falls asleep. Still trying to figure that out.

Sitting: refer to torso falling asleep and cankles

Lying on the side: I fall asleep...waking up a few hours later to a full bladder, and hips that feel broken, making me secretly wish I had a walker to assist me to the bathroom.

Lying on my side upright supported by pillows: This one is deceiving. You feel like you might have beat the odds. Everything is supported and circulating well...wait what's that? Oh, just kidding my whole side has fallen asleep. I looked like Kevin Spacey's character from Usual Suspects trying to walk this one off.

Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, and Tweedle Ry-Ry

2008-04-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

38 weeks, and I'm finally understanding where they got their inspiration for these characters....

Snoozing, and Snuggling with the Snoogle.

2008-04-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

BUSTED!! Josh claims he doesn't usually sleep with the snoogle when I'm gone, but as I was heading out the door the other morning look what I found.

I had heard his phone/alarm going off several times already, so I figured he was up....but imagine that...there's his phone snoozed...and Josh sleeping ever so soundly in the snoogle fort.

I have embraced the Mu-mu....

2008-04-06T16:26:00.000-07:00

It's come to the point where even maternity clothes aren't fitting and or aren't comfortable. I get tired just dressing myself. I pretty much wear a combination of 3 outfits a week, because well...see above. Now that the weather is starting to warm up we have even more of a dilemma. I don't have any warm clothes, because well...see past blogs about Iowa...and I'm not about to go buy anything, because I wouldn't want to do anything that would encourage prolonging this pregnancy.

As I was staring at my closet today thinking...I wish I just had a giant cotton tent with a draw string....I remembered last summer buying this little number at Old Navy on clearance for $1.99. It's not maternity, but it was ginormous, and I thought...there just might come a time where this might work....well folks, it's that time....and it has pockets and a hood. Love it. Best $2 and change I ever spent.

So I've reached another low or some might consider a high being 9 months pregnant. Yes, this is what it has come to...wearing a mu-mu, sitting in a recliner, eating a giant piece of chocolate cake. (p.s.....Wal-Mart bakery section $1.50.) They are like the perfect pregnancy size...I don't want a whole cake, just a piece...I mean a giant piece...OK, maybe in my mind I secretly say part of this is for Josh too....but I don't think his two bites really puts a dent in the thing.

OK, now the picture taking is just getting ridiculous. I mean, who needs a TV tray when you have a built in shelf?

I've been tagged

2008-04-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Aurora tagged me. I'm passing my tag on to Lani, Chancy, and Maria.

Here's the skinny:
1. link to the person who tagged you.
2. post the rules.
3. share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. tag at least 3 people.
5. make sure the people you tagged know you tagged them by commenting to them.

6 non-important things/habits/quirks about myself:
As I was starting to type this I was just thinking out loud, "What are some quirks/habits I have?" Josh being in the room with me started to rattle off a list like no one's business...so I guess I will write these from Josh's point of view....or I should say Josh's pet peeves of me.

1. I leave cabinet doors open (mainly in the kitchen). I will say the King household growing up didn't have "latches" that worked really well on our kitchen cabinets, so they swung freely with ease....I don't know, doesn't bother me.

2. I'm a klutz. I run into things a lot, mainly my arms and elbows, it's like I'm not aware of them as I go through door ways. It's pretty much a daily occurrence for me to be in the other room and you hear a "thud"...me: "Ow"...Josh:(laugh), "Imagine that." Playing indoor soccer, Josh said I was constantly on the ground, I told him it's called being aggressive, but I can still hear him from the stands yelling "stay vertical!!"

3. Chewing on my face...Not only was I cursed with tiny teeth, but a few years ago a dentist told me I was a clencher and a grinder. Which I find makes tiny teeth tinier. I catch myself doing it sometimes, or I wake up with a sore jaw. Josh has pointed out to me another bad habit that I do which is chew on my cheeks or my tongue...or as Josh calls it, "chewing on my face." Hence, why I chew gum by day...but apparently I do it at night too. So, occasionally I get the, "you were chewing your cud so loud last night. "

4. Absent mindedness...if that's a word. Josh claims that I just don't think sometimes, (also see being a klutz), or I'm just in another world. I will ask him the same question several times. We will drive by restaurants, and I will say, "we should eat there sometime,"...to which Josh says, "We have." He says I D.A. him a lot...dead air...where I take too long to answer him. I mean mainly it's when I'm multitasking a.k.a. watching TV. But, then again the Dallas lunch crew nicknamed me Rose (from the Golden Girls)...so I don't know.

OK...enough of Josh's thoughts....before we get divorced.

5. I'm an OC hand washer. Not so much because I am afraid of germs, but more because I feel like I have a film on my hands...or I don't like going from different tasks without washing my hands first. Like if I go for a walk, I have to immediately wash my hands when I get back home, or after I am done typing this I will go wash my hands before bed....but then sometimes I forget if I have washed my hands recently, so I will wash them again. I don't know...weird.

6. Restaurants-more condiments and liquids...I will drink water/soda as long as the waiter keeps bringing it to me. Most times, I can't wait for the refill, therefore, I will drink Josh's water as well while I wait. Back in the day when I could drink. My favorite was going somewhere for brunch after a night out, and I would order no joke...water, OJ, Coke, and a Bloody Mary...and yes, I'm a nerd, a perfect day would me bringing a multivitamin as well. All the ingredients for successfully treating a hangover. But it doesn't end there. I will order an item like chicken fingers, which might be like 4 or 5 in an order, and I will have just as many if not more condiments on the side...ketchup, ranch, honey mustard, BBQ sauce, blue cheese...yes, I will take them all.

Ok...It's April.

2008-03-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

Let's make it happen people!!!

"Now...I'm just saying if you want to come out a little early, I mean as long as you are ready I would be ok with that."

Actually, I'm trying to remember when I was able to see past my belly. It's probably better I don't anyway. :)

Well, here is heading into the 9th month smiles and all. Don't let it fool you. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, and...maybe I cried at ESPN when they interviewed a women's basketball coach, who had just given birth...mainly out of jealousy. Freaking hormones....

Nothing like taking a long term sub job when you are 9 months pregnant.

2008-03-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

Got a call Sunday for a sub job this week. All week. 6th grade Geography and 8th grade Science at the small district I sub for. Sure...why not. Show up, and the secretary says..."Yeah, this guy just quit on us." I'm like awesome, so go down there, obviously no lesson plans. There was a note card that said here are the chapters I left off with. I'm like waiting for someone to come and tell me maybe what I should do for the day...no one comes. Go back to the office. The secretary says, "Just give them a study hall." Yeah, 6th and 8th graders study hall the Monday after spring break...um....that sounds like a giant nightmare. So, I basically just go back find a couple of textbooks, and quick throw together some book work for the day and call it good.

Now we have had some other drama in the Iowa City area. It has been on the major news http://www.wjxx.com/news/usworld/news-article.aspx?storyid=105406
I went to go talk to the principal about what was going on for the day, and everyone in the office was talking about this...so I was like, OK...guess I'm doing my own thing. And p.s. totally drove by this guy's burned car on my way to work Monday too.

So fast forward 2 days later...my week job has been extended to as long as I can stay. I'm getting long term sub pay (about $60) more than regular. I pretty much called up the tech guy and had an account set up so I can get on the computer. I guess this guy didn't even put in his grades, so another teacher had to do it. The random thing is he was a long term sub too...trying to get on staff for the next year. Stupid.

So, I'm pretty much rolling this thing out. Negatives-it's such a small district I'm the only Geography and Science teacher for these grades, so no lesson plans I can steal from other teachers....Really teaching again, lesson plans..grades...etc. Positives-more money, can stay as long as I'm able, no first or last period...and another teacher is in my room...so I can "sneak" out. And technically I am still a sub, so it's not like I have to impress them with my curriculum skills. They are just pumped that I am doing lesson plans on my own.

33 weeks and the Nursery.

2008-03-09T18:25:00.001-07:00

Busted eating ice cream....ok, it's really not that hard to bust me eating ice cream. 33 weeks this week. Everything is right on track. Went to the doctor. After a little conversation about gaining 8 lbs....apparently when I told her I baked cookies and ate half the dough right before my appt., it did nothing for her....everything else was good. Heartbeat, blood pressure, measuring, all on track. So...now just counting down these last 7 weeks!!

My parents came to visit this weekend. Iowa Targets hate to carry our crib. Couldn't find it anywhere but KC, so we bought it there. Then with the arrival of our nephew and other craziness, this was the first weekend they were able to get away for a visit and bring it to us.

Which leads to the excitement of working on the nursery this weekend. Able to get things in place, and mostly organized. We had previously painted a while back. Went with the jungle theme, I thought the animals were cute...Josh said lets have an emphasis on monkeys....so it's a combination of both. Rocking horse is Josh's when he was a kid. Plus, Josh and my mom thought "Monkey" was too grown up for the crib, so he is rocking out on the bed with the ukelele.

All the stuffed animals we have received so far...lots of monkeys too...even a K-State bear. They are keeping the bed warm for Austin.

The crib was really our only major piece of furniture we bought. Everything else is sort of a mix. This dresser we took from my parents basement when we moved to Dallas. The top is nice and wide, so we thought great for a changing table. Rocking chair my mom had bought at a garage sale for their house after my first nephew was born, but she never used it.

Couple of things we would still like to add and organize. A little bookshelf in the closet, and to the walls, picture frames and such, but for the most part that's about it!! We are getting excited to meet this little guy!

But until then...there's lots of good ice cream to eat. Just trying to make sure I get all my calcium requirements!!

I might be going to hell for this...but it had to be shared.

2008-03-06T07:02:00.001-08:00

I know this must be a good story if Josh says..."Why don't you blog about it." I mean he says this a lot, but he's usually joking. Apparently making fun of the time I spend creating and or checking other people's blog, he's a real card that one. Of course it's about subbing, because that's all I do in Iowa. I don't go outside...because, well, that would be silly.

You ever see that movie Shallow Hal? With Jack Black and Gwenyth Paltrow...well, I'll come back to that in a sec. I was at the Middle school helping out in the resource room...yes, I took an associate job...no, I don't want to talk about it. So, there is basically 2 rooms with a door missing, so it's kind of like 1 big room with a partition. In the front room is a couple teachers, myself, and a couple of kids working on stuff. In the back part is 2 girls that come over from the high school. One of the girls is extremely obese. I mean she is 15 and probably 300 bills, no joke. I have had her and this other girl in class before. They are pretty much each other's only friends. Except the big girl started a rumor about this other girl and ruined her life. (That was last month anyway.) Anywho, back to the story.

So we are all working...when CRASH!!! This noise comes from the back room. So we all go back there and at first we are all just shocked frozen for a couple of seconds surveying the scene. The bigger girl had broken her chair she was sitting in. It made me think of that scene in Shallow Hal when they are at the diner and her chair breaks. And Jack Black is yelling at the waiter going...."What's this thing made out of anyway"...and the guys like..."Steel."

That was this chair. The two back legs that were welded together were bent completely back. Like it was an SNL skit or something. I mean you felt sorry for the girl because she bit it pretty hard...but the whole thing was so shocking. The best part of this whole thing....one of the teacher's is like..."yeah, I think that chair was broken...here let me get you another one." What does she bring? Out of all the mismatched chairs in this room...an identical chair to the one she just broke. I'm like man, kick her while she's down.

KC shower

2008-02-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

Went home last weekend for a shower our families put together for us in KC. Stopped off first to see the new nephew, Cameron. He is still just a little guy. All the pictures of me holding him, where bad, so here's Josh holding him. :)

Eric potty training...love this picture. He's got his drink...book...hand...checking to make sure every thing's working...I mean he's all set!

Cameron playing...for about 5 min., and then he was asleep.

The Fam pre-shower...I'm not going to say we are dorks...but we all showed up at the shower separately...but in pairs of colors...Megan and Josh, black...Tara and my dad, maroon...and My mom and I in "salmon". Hello Dorks!!

Maria in the house. Drove the fam all the way from Chanute for the shower. Love me some Maria!!!

Josh received some of his old toys from his mom. Ukulele?!? It has been non-stop ukulele and whistling in the house since.

Monkey!!!! Josh's words, not mine when he opened him up. Josh's stuffed monkey growing up...his name...monkey...he's a simple man people. He's been pretty excited to have him back in his life. Not sure if he will let the boy play with him yet.

Put this pic in mainly for the side view of me...good lord...do I have a flotation device under my shirt? But this is also the only pic of us with Josh's mom. Apparently when I asked my dad to take pictures at the shower...that meant 100 pictures of us opening gifts...and 2 of the rest of the party.

Never a dull moment in the land of subbing...sorry it's a novel.

2008-02-10T16:47:00.001-08:00

Let me start off with a little background informasche...I sub for a small local district. So small it's not automated. One of the secretaries calls me whenever they have a job. Last week I got a call from her asking if I would like a position that would be everyday for a month or so. I'm thinking, sure, that would be awesome...but I'm still a little leary, so I inquire what the position is. Come to find out it's "helping" a student..and by helping I mean, following her around all day long. That's all she will tell me. I ask if this is teacher pay or associate pay, (associate pay is by the hour and about $30 less a day,) she says associate.

Yeah, I'm like uh...Latabreshia (names have been changed to protect their identity,) I would rather not take an associate job since I am due in April I really need to work as much and for as much as I can. She says fine, we go our seperate ways. She calls me the following week with 3 jobs, all teacher jobs...and I'm thinking sweet, she is not going to call me to be an "ass." anymore. BUT I WAS WRONG.

Now here's why I don't like being an associate...less pay...one break, lunch usually about 15 min....usually are attached to a child's hip that has "issues". Why I end up taking associate jobs....nothing else is available...or Latabreshia calls me at 6 am when I'm dead asleep and not functioning...and I'm too much of a sucker to say no.

So last Thursday...Bresh calls me earlier in the day for 2 jobs for the next week. Later I noticed she has called again while I was out...and think oh, she probably has a job for me for Friday...since we had 3 snow days last week, I was kind of thinking I might not get a call Friday...thus the adventure begins....I'm like LB...it's Ryann...she says, oh, I was calling because remember that job I told you about last week helping the girl at the high school...I feel the anger of being suckered starting to rise...."...yes..." I say...well, the girl I found to do it is out sick tomorrow can you cover......."...yes.." I say... at the high school right? At this point, I'm getting over it, and thinking it can't be all bad. But LB hits me one more time..."yes, at the high school, but you will be meeting her at the elementary school and riding the bus over with her. She is to be supervised at all times. Thanks bye!"

So the next day I pick her up at the elementary school her mom is a teacher there and tells me, mind you I have no idea why I following this girl around in the first place, that she is to not have a pencil with her until she gets to school. So, I'm like, did she stab someone with a pencil or something what craziness have I gotten into...then I'm there waiting for the bus with the other high school kids, she jumps on sits with her friends, I pretty much just sit in the front with some band girl who's talking to her friend about something slutty their friend this weekend all the while getting stared at by the bus driver who was looking at me like, who's the new pregnant student. I felt stupid and I'm sure this girl did too, having me follow her around all day.

Come to find out...this girl's a cutter...pencils, scissors...and I'm like, ok I get that she probably needs to be watched and should have some restrictions put on her...but I literally did nothing but follow her around. I read 200 pages of my book sitting in her classes. That's what was so dumb about it. Probably the only time she was by herself was in the bathroom and changing for gym class. I'm like I can solve all these problems for you. Make her sit at the front of the bus by the driver...no bathroom/locker unless with an adult. An office person can take 2 minutes to go with her. I mean this job was ridiculous...and I couldn't help but think this would not happen in a bigger district, and maybe you are drawing more attention to this girl..which could be a bad thing, if that's what she is looking for. She was starting to talk to me a little by the end of the day, and asked me to help her with her writing assignment...as I start to read it, it starts out like this..."I didn't cut myself today!!!!"...and then she asked me how to spell fetish....later as I was riding the bus back to the elementary school all I kept thinking was...I hate associate jobs.

It snowed just a smidge.

2008-02-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

Big storm came through last night. Started about noon yesterday and finally stopped at about 3 today. This morning I opened our front door to see what was going on, thinking I was protected by our entryway...so wrong...the wind was blowing so hard the snow was horizontal. There was snow all the way up to the front door. This was my view.

Here's after the storm finally stopped. You can kind of see our mailbox on the left. Josh had to shovel about six times to clear our driveway. He's a little bitter since we are the only people on the street without a snowblower, and everyone keeps telling us this is the worst winter they have had in years. The final verdict...we received a foot of snow!! And it's not over more is predicted for tomorrow and this weekend. Wish I could at least go sledding or something.

Dallas Trip

2008-02-04T19:10:00.001-08:00

Went to Dallas this past weekend to visit friends...a.k.a. the other pregos. It was nice to get away for a weekend to somewhere warm. Went by my old work place, RHS, saw some past coworkers, my soccer players, did some pampering, a little shopping. Good times back in the ole' D!

Christy and I started off the weekend with facials by Shay. Sorry Christy, this picture is awesome. I mean, sorry your eyelashes and eyebrows look so good.

Lunch at Cafe Amore with the old lunch crew. The only person missing was the owner and her moles.

Baby shower "Happy Hour" at Dos Rios. Not too many good Mexican places in Iowa City, so I'm missing that. Christy and I and the table centerpiece. It's a pop up.

Sara And Jeremy Cyr, friends from college. Always good to have some more K-Staters in the house.

Aurora and I excited as ever about the free chips and salsa....mmm...chips and salsa.

Principal Kosha. Ever faithful to her profession and Pearce. That badge goes everywhere with her.

Chancy and Jennifer came as well. Yes, I made everyone get a picture with me. The Gunter's, and Debbie lucked out by leaving early.

Took Scout to the park. Love Scout in her soccer mom outfit. Christy and I had to show her how to scale the rock wall. I mean it's all about the kids.

Lisa, Ro, Christy and Scout. Pretty much it was like prego chick day out at the park. Christy came up with her idea for the kid/dog park...hammocks in the middle for the adults.

Dr. Christy checking Lisa's vitals.... don't let the leg up fool you though, she's just listening for the heartbeats.

It was an awesome night out Sat. Weather was perfect. Downside, ran out of wood for the fire pit. Don't worry though, Chris found a dog house, so we were all good.

Thus my trip came to an end the same way it started. Snow and more snow. This is the view from my garage as I got home. Love me some IOWA!!!

I'm so in the now...

2008-01-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

New glasses. I mean they might be tortoise shell rims with silver on the side. I don't know. Sure, I really only wear my glasses at my house...or when I'm too lazy to put my contacts in. But it's been like 5 years since I've had new glasses, so..when pearl vision had glasses half off with contacts...it had to be fate. Josh who was with me, but probably wished he wasn't, had to watch me try on like every pair of glasses in the store. I mean, I kind of went out on a limb with the thick plastic rims, but I'm living on the edge in Iowa. Ok, I'm done.

I got nothing...

2008-01-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Nothing to blog about...pretty much my world consists of snow and cold. So after getting bundled up, boots on, coat, gloves...just to take out the mail...I thought I would take a picture of my world right now. Yeah, that's a ginormous pile of snow almost above our mailbox. Wind chill has been - 12 this whole week. Man, I remember Dallas, when the newscasters would be like, careful, it's bitterly cold out there...high of 30. High of 30!! Now, I'm like give me 30!!! I would be outside rejoicing...in shorts, if it was 30. Anyway, it sucks to be outside, so I don't go there. My light source consists of 3-way bulbs, and opening the refrigerator.

Nothing else to do...belly shots.

2008-01-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

Bored, it's been a while since we've had a belly shot, so thought I would throw out some comparisons.

Here I am 19 weeks...Christmas tree is up...just got done with a little prenatal Pilates feeling great! Belly is starting to show. Being pregnant is kind of fun!!

Fast forward to 6 weeks later....25 weeks...Iowa has made me so pale, my skin looks iridescent. The joyfulness of pregnancy has become the realization of this isn't even close to being over and I'm only going to get bigger. My ab muscles have already stretched so far that when I sit up part of my intestines pokes through...cottage cheese belly as Lani tells me it's called.

It hurts so bad to do things I just don't anymore...like bend over. I'm out. No more bending over until April. I stare at my sneakers with pure hatred. They just sit in my closet, mocking me to try and tie them. I think after month 5 slippers should be totally acceptable shoes for all pregnant women.

Now this picture, we'll just call it, "Exhibit B"...I'd like to examine the area where my ass should be....Has my stomach absorbed it? Do I have ass-trophy from sitting on the couch so much? I mean let's be honest this is no longer a butt it's a back-le. Part back part leg....Ridiculous. Well, guess I just added one more thing to my list of things not to do anymore..take profile pictures.

New Nephew!!

2008-01-09T18:39:00.000-08:00

Cameron Forbes Lebar was born Sunday Jan. 6th 5 lb 4 0z. 18 1/2 in long. He came to us a little early. My sister Tara was having some pretty bad contractions Saturday, and after a night in the hospital, herbal remedies, and muscle relaxers...it was time. Well, her placenta thought it was time anyway, it had started to pull away from her uterus. This was the reason for the horrible contractions and at around 6pm, they decided it was time for a c-section.

Everyone is doing well. Cameron was born about 4 weeks early. They consider him a near-term baby. Which means he has to spend time in the ICU under the "tanning bed" as my brother-in-law, Joe, calls it. They want him using his calories to grow instead of staying warm. Other than that everything else looks good. He has been nursing, and gaining weight!

Cameron chatting with big brother Eric. Eric is very excited about baby Cameron, he is all he talks about!

Eric playing in the partition curtain. who says those semi private rooms can't be fun?

Holiday Shenanigans

2008-01-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

We have had a crazy last couple of weeks with the holidays and new year. I have been slacking on blogging and emailing. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Getting ready for visitors, Josh was shoveling ice off our driveway. Yeah it was like 2-3 inches thick. Why did we move from Dallas?

A Christmas present from my sister Megan. It says, "I'm not fat. I'm knocked up." I'll wear this with pride in Iowa.

We had Josh's family come to visit. 12 in all! Starting from left, Me and Josh; Sister-in-law Sarah; Josh's Brother Matt; their kids, Casey and Layney; Grandma Donna; Cousin Zack; his mom Aunt Ceri; Josh's dad, Mark; his girlfriend Julie, and her son Jake. Good times. Lots of napping, games, fun, and food!!

This just looks bad, I swear it was the last piece of pie. I was like I'll just eat it out of the pie dish...then everyone was making fun of me. Speaking of sweets. We ate at P.F. Changs...they have a chocolate cake called the Great Wall of Chocolate....8 layers. Love it. I ate 7 of the 8 layers. Just FYI for you pregos. Live it up.

We traveled to Wamego, KS to spend a few days with Josh's mom and then decided to break up the trip home and spend New year's in KC. A friend of ours was going to be out of town, so he threw a new year's eve eve party complete with Champagne toast at a local bar. Josh was in heaven since the Jagermeister girls showed up and he was able to get a t-shirt. Which he told me was too small, then I told him of course it was he had 2 shirts on underneath it. Oh, to be able to drink.

We spent the real New year's at a friends house. Good times, everyone played a lot of beer pong and flip cup. I ate a lot of pigs in a blanket and brownies. Everyone was happy. I'm starting to embrace the shirts that tie in the back. I've been putting it off for a long time, but alas...it's starting to become all that fits.

It's a Boy!!!

2007-12-18T16:06:00.000-08:00

We had our ultrasound appointment last week, but decided to wait and post. We were in KC this weekend for my mom's birthday and wanted to surprise my family in person. Everything looked good. He was very active kicking and arms moving like crazy. We had a full face shot and he even yawned. It was very cool. She went to go make another check to make sure it was a boy, and she said oh, now his hand is down there....I was like yep, it's a boy. She said the baby was weighing about a week ahead. He was almost a pound! No names of yet, we are still thinking. Austin is a front runner, I like Noah this week. We know that King will be the middle name for sure, so always open for ideas.

I love this shirt. Comfy with a good message, "Hugs, not drugs." This was one of my laying around the house outfits. I was putting laundry away the other day and ran across it. Still fits!!! Err...something like that. Josh and I had a good laugh. So this is me at 21 weeks.

Me and Papa King this weekend. We were twinkies with our matching sweaters and bellies.

My sister Tara is pregnant as well, she is due Feb. 2. We had my other sister Megan surrounded with our ginormous bellies.

Snoogle in the Hzouse...

2007-12-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

After a few uncomfortable nights of sleeping, partially from being uncomfortable and partially because I'm so paranoid by all these books, "Don't sleep on your back!" "Sleep only on your left side!" I would barely wake up and immediately assess my sleeping situation and panic. Anyway, I was browsing Amazon the other day and thought I would check out the snoogle....$44 and free shipping later...I was excited. Last night was my first night snoogling it up, and...I...loved...it. Words can't express my joy of sleeping with this thing. Pretty much those pictures might as well have been me last night, (except I don't wear satin pajamas...hello, hot. I would sweat to death.) Now those of you who know Josh, he's a snuggler...and he was not excited about the snoogle...until this morning when I got up for work. Got out of the shower and guess who was snoogling and snoring.

When I was reading reviews for the snoogle this one was hilarious. I just had to add it, because it made me laugh so hard. It obviously didn't deter me from buying it.

When I first bought Snoogle, I loved it, as it was perfectly supportive as promised. Then my toddler barfed in our bed, and some of it unfortunately splashed on Snoogle. Snoogle's cover had to be washed. Snoogle's cover is very snug, without a hint of stretch. Snoogle's ONE cover opening is in a very awkward location. I was so frustrated with trying to put Snoogle's cover back on after washing that I left it off and left the pillow bare. Big mistake. Snoogle's supportive secret is in its cover because when left without, it's basically a flat blob of cheap batting that stores body heat like an extra-lumpy camel and then spits it back at you during the night. Why do people devise ways to frustrate pregnant women? Finally, today, I put Snoogle's cover back on, and after a half-hour of twisting, writhing, cursing and taking two breaks ... I got the stupid cover back on but didn't even have a post-coital glow as an added benefit.

Weird Dreams

2007-12-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

I have been having some crazy dreams lately. Josh is apparently having sympathy crazy dreams, because well...I'll just tell you the story. Last week, I woke up in the middle of the night after having a weird dream. I could tell Josh was somewhat awake as well, so I said, "You need to call six creditors back after we go for a ride in the helicopter around New York City." (Pause) Josh: "Oh yeah, well the trapeze artist performing at the K-State game fell off her swing and knocked her teeth out. She lost her top in the process, and since I didn't help her up she said"...(as apparently she shook her boobs at him) "Thanks a lot Josh." After I called him a creep, we had a good laugh.

Now we almost try and remember them so we can later analyze. Last night I dreamt that I had the baby, like as pregnant as I am right now, and it took 4 minutes. I kept thinking it would hurt more, but then I thought it's because I'm not very far along. Weird. Josh dreamt that Brett Favre came over to play catch with him, but he kept throwing the football too hard. Oh, but it doesn't end there. He also dreamt that there was scandal at the spelling bee when a girl was found cheating by wearing a microphone in her ear therefore, outlawing ALL hearing aids!!!!

Josh says it's because we don't drink as much anymore.

Sorry for....

2007-11-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

Getting pulled over and given a breathalizer test. Last week Josh and I actually had friends in town, and so we celebrated by heading out to the bars. As we were leaving, I literally had made it a block away when I was being pulled over by a police car. I thought..ok, I didn't run a red light or anything, I just left my spot, what is going on. I proceeded to freak a little bit because our tags had just expired on the Cherokee, but we are rolling with it because our lease is up. The officer asks for the usual, I ask.."Um, why was I pulled over?" He says, "Well Ryann, your lights aren't on." I was like, "Oh my gosh this car has automatic lights, and I guess I accidently turned them off when I parked...etc....etc..." He says, "Well where are you coming from?" I'm like, "the bar scene!" Now this whole time Josh and our friends are laughing at me, and sort of jeering this whole process on. You would think not the normal, your drunk driver just was pulled over behavior. I explained to him that I was prego, and the d.d. to which he replies, "Well, then you won't mind taking one of these then." And pulls out a breathalizer. Before I could reply, Josh yells, "YEAH!!!!" in the backseat. Now, the Rose in me for a split second thought...I drank a Kaliber....Guinesses non-alcoholic beer. What if something comes up and he thinks I just lied to him....but that quickly diminished, when he said...."0.000" The rest of the car laughed and I apologized again for not realizing my lights weren't on. He said, "You're pregnant", (like, it's to be expected), but I didn't care because he let me go.

Good Stuff

2007-11-18T07:34:00.000-08:00

This book is hilarious. I bought this for Josh half joking, half serious because I knew he wasn't reading any of the baby books. So I put it in the one place I knew he might flip through it...the executive...a.k.a the bathroom. After getting it though, I started reading it too. It...is... awesome. It breaks the book up by months, and at the beginning of each month it lists, "What your wife will be complaining about." The first two things every month is, 1. Exhaustion and 2.You. Love it. I was like...see, it's not just me. It also has pictures of what the wife may look like that month. In the beginning she has her cute cowboy boots on dancing, and by the end she is in straight (as he says), "jungle-print muu-moo she swore she'd never wear."

My other favorite parts are sections like, "Things to let her know you are caring, sensitive, and up on the required reading." They are usually about 2 short paragraphs filled with big medical words. The best line of the whole book though is...."Yes, your wife's boobs are getting bigger...no, you can't touch them." It's like everything your baby book is telling you, but in funny guy terms, for instance, "Month 4, Leukorrhea...(we don't want to talk about it.)" If Josh questions my motives, I'm like did you read the book? It clearly stated this month I would want to bathe in mayonnaise. Anyway, good stuff, I found it on Amazon for a couple bucks, and highly recommend it.

Bad day to be pregnant.

2007-11-12T19:55:00.000-08:00

Soooo last Friday I was subbing elementary a class that included 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. All is well in the land of munchkins...we read a little, played with some earthworms, the math was easy...you get the picture. An hour before the day is over...that is 60 minutes before the official start of the weekend. The craziest sub/teaching experience I've ever had happened. A second grader went medieval on me. Enter scene:

The four second graders of the class are gathered around the teacher's table working on their language assignment. Putting the correct spelling of a word in a sentence. I stressed to them, that we were checking it as a group, so if they got it wrong, no big deal, just correct it. So this one kid (to protect his identity) we will just call him "The Devil" gets the last sentence wrong. I say, "No big deal, just mark the correct word." Devil: "But, that's what I was going to pick, but he told me to pick the answer and it was wrong!!" Me: "I understand, but it is your assignment, so you need to choose your own answers, but again, we are correcting as a group, so it's no...." Devil: Jumps up slams his chair into the desk, mumbles something under his breath and goes to his seat. Again...SECOND GRADER!!!

So, I calmly go back to the rest of the group to finish. I hand them their next assignment, and plan on speaking to my star student. But of course in the land of elementary, the other kids yell for him to get his next assignment before I can tell them not to. He approaches, I tell all the other kids to have a seat, and ask Devil to stay and talk to me. Devil: picks up his assignment rips it in half yelling, "IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT!!! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!!!" He proceeds back to his desk where he kicks it repeatedly. I ask the other kids to continue working...not that they are doing so at this point. I walk over to The Devil and say, "Ok, lets go to the office." Devil: ignores me continues to kick. I reach down to pick up his torn assignment, and he starts wailing on me! Hitting me with his book, kicking me in the shins, and screaming. At this point, I don't know what he's going to do. I can't leave him, hitting and kicking things, because he might kick another student, so I pretty much grab him and carry him out in the hallway. Don't worry he managed to kick several things on his way out.

He made so much noise that the principal, counselor and secretary across the hall came over as I was bringing him out. The counselor and I chat while the principal takes him to her office. She says to me in a low whisper...."He has anger issues." I'm like NO SH*T!!!! As I retell the story the overly hormonal pregnant lady decides to come visit, and I break down in tears. Awesome. Then I have to retell the story to the principal...still crying. She says to me...for future reference, just leave and come get someone next time. I almost flipped. I said, I'm sorry, but I have been teaching for 6 years, I've worked in high schools, I've broken up fights, and never have I ever seen a kid flip out to the point where I felt like I had no choice but restrain him. I didn't have time to get someone. I said, him hitting an kicking like that, I thought he was going to go crazy on another student. Plus...I don't even know this kid! If he has anger issues that needs to be in the sub notes!!!!!! Come to find out, big surprise, this isn't the first time he has done this. He did come apologize to me at the end of the day with the help of the principal. I mean, this was scary. I thought I was dealing with a future serial killer or something.

Long story longer, I finally pulled it together to go back in and teach the last 30 min. The other kids felt so bad for me that they all gave me notes and pictures. One kid drew me flowers....so ultimately I started crying again. Man, bad day to be pregnant.

Issues

2007-11-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, I get that the hormones are in overdrive. I finally accepted it after crying at a commercial...don't ask, I don't even remember. Apparently another side effect of being pregnant. I mean I've even been fine with the breaking out issue I seem to have on my face lately...but it's spreading. Yesterday I woke up with neckne...that's acne on my neck. WTF is that? And it's not just one, it looks like a constellation. Apparently it's orbiting my face..drawing all it's energy from my other zits. RIDICULOUS. And nothing is worse then trying to play it off, like, oh, no one will notice...and than Josh..."What's on your neck?"...awesome...he told me it looked like I had been bit by a vampire...awesome...It's too bad we didn't dress up for Halloween this year, apparently I would have had a really good costume.

Working 9 to 5...

2007-10-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Or 8 to 3:15...whatever. So, last Friday as I was packing to leave for KC for my 10 year high school reunion...which will be another blog, once I get my camera back...long story. We receive a phone call...early...so early that Josh assumes it's a telemarketer. She askes for RiANNeh....which apparently is what Ryann looks to sound out as. Josh, lays into the woman..."Who's RiANNeh?"...the poor woman fumbling starts trying other names...RyANN, Reeannuh, Reena...because apparently "Ryan" is a foreign name in Iowa. Josh finally realizes that it's not a telemarketer hands me the phone. It's a sub job...for the booming metroplis of West Branch, Iowa...home of Herbert Hoover. Why do I know this? Because the 30 seconds it took to drive through the town there was about 20 signs that made reference to it. So....I have a job 4 days this week at the high school. I went today not real sure what I was doing. She said they needed help with their ITED testing...which I pretty much assumed that stood for watching a spec. ed student pick the wrong answers on the standardized test while waiting for him/her to ask me to read the tough words like "standardized test."

Man, I thought sitting at home was boring...at least I could be in my sweats, and check my email. I basically worked 1 hour and sat for 6. Although tomorrow I might wear my sweats. I felt overdressed in my Khaki's and button down shirt. I was about to go crazy when I befriended the librarian and she showed me to the stack of People magazines. The last kid I sat with pretty much told me right away he didn't want help reading. I was like, fine with me...at that point, I was already into my second people magazine...which of course was how fat and crazy Brittany still is. I mean sure this kid asked to go to the bathroom and was gone for 30 min....but is Brittany ever going to get her life back on track for these kids?

Holy $#@*!!!!

2007-10-04T13:04:00.001-07:00

This was pretty much my response when I saw this spider in my garage yesterday. It was not doing a very good job of hiding in the corner, since you know...it's GINORMOUS! That's my shoe in the pic. I mean this picture does no justice for the size of this thing, because at this point it is all shriveled up and dead. Death by spraying the F- out of it with Ortho Home defense Max. This was no easy task. I sprayed it in the corner, it took off under the car, made a run for it out of the garage, and half way down the driveway, with me spraying the whole time. Finally it quit moving. I mean, I don't know how long of a run that was in spider world, but let's just say a good couple miles for argument sake. So, I'm going to town on this thing, and look up to find all the construction workers that are building this house across the street are sitting in there truck staring at me like I'm crazy. Just wanted you all to know. Apparently, Iowa isn't just known for it's truck stops, and corn. Big ASS spiders is on the list as well.

Back to the doctor

2007-10-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

Well the saga continues...just kidding, no saga. Christy said I had to blog after each appointment. I guess this would apply to my two rules I have given myself in the world of blogging. It either has to be informative, or funny. I will warn you now, this isn't going to be funny, so if that's the only reason you consider looking at my blog...you might want to check out Maria's. There is a picture of Jett next to a whiskey bottle the same size as him. That was pretty funny.

So, we went, and I figured they get up in your grill every visit...but I guess that's not true, because she didn't....and I told Josh that was a waste of a shave. I felt like I got all dressed up for nothing...but...I digress. We did get to hear the heartbeat which was nice. Apparently, sometimes this early you can't hear it through the stomach, so it was nice that we did. The first heartbeat was mine, and I was like oh, there it is!!! (Feeling smart)...and she goes...uh, no, that's your heartbeat. I was like...sorry I'm not a doctor. We did hear it, and it was very fast, she thought like 160, last time it was 150. I'm like dang, what is it doing in there, taking laps?

I also asked her about the previous sonogram which indicated extra amniotic fluid, and luteal cysts. She said the cysts, are the energy behind the gestational sac that the baby lives on until the umbilical cord develops, and the extra amniotic fluid isn't a big deal that early because the baby is not using that either. She said eventually the baby starts to breath it in, and then excretes it out through the kidneys, so later when they do the 20 week sonogram if there is extra amniotic fluid then...it is a concern.

Sooo...pretty much all this information makes me realize I know nothing about the female body or fetal development.

Lemon Bars

2007-09-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

As I sit here eating a lemon bar, I have been thinking....I need a job. All I want to do is eat. All day long. I'm trying really hard to be good, and I will say I guess I've never been a big "sweet" eater, but...MAN, this pregnancy...it's like, before, I guess I just drank. Now that I can't drink, I want to eat...lemon bars, chocolate cake, popsickles, vanilla creme cookies, (yes, these have all been consumed in my house recently) ICE CREAM. I dream about ice cream. I wish I dreamt about fruit and vegetables. How come the baby never craves healthy stuff. I will say, the one thing I have no desire to eat is a cheeseburger. Josh has been trying to make burgers for a month, and I'm like, it just doesn't sound good. Maybe if he threw some frosting on it, I would be in.