Firsts

Here is Baby Bee's first official picture!

Isn't the Bee just adorable?? Yeah right, like you can see anything in this picture. But we could see a very healthy little heart beat and only one baby, thank goodness! Justin said I've been so grouchy, he was sure it was twins ;) Our first appointment for Baby Bee went well. The due date is still Feb. 6th. The doctor told me I need to watch what I eat because I've already gained too much weight. Oh well! I'll try, but my first priority is feeling funtional, not staying trim.

Justin has his first day at his new job tomorrow, so if you remember send a prayer his way. I am confident he will do well, but I think we both have the first day jitters :)

Oh and if you get a chance, check out Kurt and Alisha's blog. There should soon be a post about their dramatic Sunday. *How's that for some pressure :)

Our quirky girl

Aubrey's got spunk! She's got an opinion and plenty of quirks. They make her who she is, and we love them all, good and bad.

Lately, she's been obsessed with napkins and kleenex. She wants to wipe off her hands if they get dirty at all and everytime she looks in my purse she says "booger" because she wants a kleenex to blow her nose. She also insists on eating her corn on the cob (which she loves) with the little corn holders. I guess the other way of eating it gets her hands too dirty. We went out to lunch and used a gift card to Elephant Bar. They didn't have little corn holders, so she used forks instead. Aren't these picutres hilarious?!

In other news, "operation take away paci" hasn't proven successful, what with vacations and nausea. So why not double up?

Distracted

So today I'm feeling less queasy. This is probably due to the fact that I've been distracted by a class full of 3rd graders, I've had something signifigant to eat about every 2 hours, and I've been surfing the net instead of focusing on my nausea.

Here are some of my distractions that I thought you might enjoy. This is a really cool site I found. You can plug in your kids' names, names you like or family names and it generates a list of names that goes along with the names you entered. Pretty cool! As you already know, I'm also obsessed with downloading digiscrap freebies. This site is really cool because the host updates it daily with freebie links and pictures of what you can get. If you don't like something today, you may find something you like tomorrow. I love checking it daily for cute freebies (like the polaroids from the beach page on my previous post). There are some polaroids a few days down on her site.

I've also been distracted by my quest to fulfill my hunger/nausea. I keep thinking I want a certain food, but then I eat it, feel nauseaus still, and probably won't want it again until after I'm preggo. Case #1: lettuce wraps that I enjoyed while on our Bible study date with the SL Cham clan and the Laus. They sounded soooo good and they were, but I don't think I'll be doing them again for a while.

Other favorites that I've had or really want:

Taco Bell (like daily)
Los Hermanos
Sub Station Stockdale- salad bar (I fill up the large salad, to go, and I swear I can eat on it for 2 days)
Santa Fe Burrito- Nachos....mmmmmmm.....
Brinks Deli
In and Out

Basically, I'm going to be a blimp by the end of this pregnancy (similar to last time).

Soon I'll post some pictures. I have some really cute ones from our trip to Santa Barbara last week (I'm just waiting for Alisha to bring her memory card over so I can get the one of Aubrey's tush...hey Alisha, can you bring that on Friday?) I also have assignments I need to do from my Henley's photo class.

Did I mention my husband is the best? He gave me an early anniversary gift. To say I was excited is the understatement of the year! It is the perfect amount of camera for me...the novice. :) So, yeah, yet another distraction.

Hope this random post wasn't too distracting :)

Officially Pregnant

I mean I've been officially pregnant for a couple of weeks now, but the "real" symptoms are just beginning. The last few days have been filled with nausea and naps. I have NO motivation to tackle tasks like dishes and laundry, and I'm wondering how I can survive the next 6-7 weeks until this phase passes. On top of all of this, I subbed summer school on Monday and I'm scheduled to sub tomorrow-Friday. I know it will probably help keep my mind off the nausea. I worked the entire first trimester with Aubrey and I survived, but I'm already regretting signing up to do this (sub, that is).

I know that the reward at the end is definitely worth the not so fun parts of pregnancy, but I think my blogging habit with be taking a backburner :)

I know, I know...

I'm slacking!

It's hard to sum up a trip and I'm not very good at narrowing down pictures, so I really wanted to digiscrap my pictures before I posted about Florida. With time changes and pregnancy, my body hasn't been accommodating my late night computer habit, so I figured I'd post what I have finished so far.

Florida was, well, fun, but also exhausting. It's HARD to fly a long way with a little one. This is Aubrey's 4th time flying, but this was by FAR the longest flight and it was the first time we've flown since she's been walking. We survived it, but not without some screaming (by her of course ;) )

Florida was really HUMID, but The Villages (where my mom lives) has a pool on about every block, so it was bearable. My mom also bought the **kids** a little pool with a slide and basketball hoop. **Unfortunately, Aubrey was the only kid who made it, but the pool was still thoroughly enjoyed. The main mode of transportation also helped us to beat the heat. We cruised around on golf carts and Aubrey was always eager to go for a "ride, mommy". Every night there is live entertainment in one of the town squares and there are thousands of old fogies (well, 55+, but you get the idea) bustin' a move. I was also really surprised by how many young visitors there were. This community was really amazing...it was like a place where "mature" adults can be teenagers again.

Anyways, enough about the retirement community. My mom had planned plenty of fun days for us and one of them included a little farm called Uncle Donald's Farm. We might have selected the hottest afternoon to go there, but despite Aubrey's sweat drenched hair, she had a blast. There was everything from peacocks and ostriches to cougars and a baby alligator. It was an animal refuge of sorts. We were the only ones there (probably because it was so stinkin' hot), so we got to do all the hands-on stuff by ourselves. I even got to MILK A GOAT! Then they put the milk in a bottle and Aubrey and I fed it to the baby goat. Even with all of the exotic animals, I still think Aubrey's favorites were the duck and the kitties. We had a blast at the farm!

We also went to Daytona Beach. Ummm....hello...I don't even know why California beaches have such a reputation. I've never been to such a warm, beautiful beach. It was warm outside, the water was PERFECT and it wasn't overcrowded. Of course, there are more sharks over there and the waves are crummy, but I'm not going out that far anyways. Aubrey LOVED playing in the sand, but wasn't fond of the waves getting her. She was little Miss Independent with the shovels though and was sure to let us know, "Aubrey do it!". Daytona Beach was beautiful! Our other days were full of visiting, eating out, visiting the fish and bottle nosed turtles in the lake, swimming, playing in the rain and enjoying the company of Grandma Nancy. We did experience some surprises while in Florida. The first surprise was FORESTS! I'm talking forests everywhere. Dense forests. It actually reminded me of where I used to live/visit in Pennsylvania. And of course with forests come BEARS. I'm driving along and not 5 minutes earlier I had asked my mom if there were bears there, when suddenly I see this black bear on the side of the road. It had been hit by a car. It made me feel like I was in Lost...well except it wasn't a polar bear. I saw a bear and water turtles, but not one alligator....surprises I tell you.

I don't think we'll be visiting again anytime soon, as it is a lot easier for my mom to come visit all of us, but I look forward to the time when Aubrey's old enough to take to Disneyworld, or better yet on a Disney cruise. We'll visit Grandma Nancy, boogie with the oldies, and try to avoid all the killer creatures such as sharks, bears and alligators.

Oh and as far as Baby B (Justin's nickname for the little one since "A"ubrey was baby "A") goes, I was a little nervous because I hadn' t had many symptoms, but the last 4 days have calmed my fears. I'm starting to feel a little queasy if I don't eat protein about every 3 hours and I'm pooped, not to mention the fact that I swear my clothes are already too small.

Here's belly shot #1.

Off and away....

We're headed out to Florida to visit my mom in about 5 minutes.

Already my bad vacation luck has kicked in. Brogan is sick with a 102 temperature and nausea. Christy's been on the phone with travel insurance all morning.

Aubrey and I will press on. Wish us luck :)

QUICK!

Thanks for all the congrats!

I know it was a weird way to announce being pregnant, but I wanted to surprise all my readers as much as I was surprised! With Aubrey, we tried for 7 months. I mean, we REALLY tried. I spit on an ovulation test, I charted (well, kind of), I asked the doctor for advice. I was starting to get discouraged, when we FINALLY got pregnant. I truly believe that all the chemicals from the birth control I had just gotten off of were a contributing factor to my struggle to get pregnant the first time.

This time around, completely different story. I posted the "To be or not to be blog" and then we prayed for a couple of days and then we decided to start trying. We weren't REALLY trying like the first time, but apparently we didn't need to.

I kept telling Justin I wanted to buy some pregnancy tests (before I was even late). He told me it would be a waste of money. I still wanted to take one. Then I was one day late, but feeling awfully tired. I bought a pack of three tests the next day, but felt like I was cramping while I was in line, so I was pretty sure I wasn't pregnant. I guess it was just my sensative stomach, because the test was POSITIVE?!

I honestly laughed as I was looking at it and the faint line grew darker. No way! That was way too quick. I called Justin after summer school to tell him I bought three tests. He told me they were a waste of money and I responded by telling him that the last two were, because the first one was POSITIVE! I think we were both in disbelief. Our shock eventually turned into excitement as we calculated a due date online (Feb. 6th), called to make a Dr's appt (June 30...the ONE day Justin has off between his old job and new job), and I started to look for a vision for Aubrey's big girl room.

Aubrey and our little one will be approximately 29 months apart. I know Aubrey will be a great big sister! We're so excited about this new little life that God is growing in me!

God is good!

Wordless Week....well mostly wordless

Here's a picture synopsis of our first week of summer. It was full of entertainment and EXCITEMENT!

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Announcement

I have a BIG post that maybe I'll get to tomorrow, but until then... I leave you with this.

I made this announcement for my cousin's new baby and I'm in LOVE with it! I don't think anyone from my dad's side of the family, except Anna, reads this blog. Hopefully she won't mind me posting it.

Lyssa--roo in HIGH SCHOOL?

First of all, I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted such encouraging and positive comments to my last post. We really do feel blessed to have such great people in our lives.

Now on to my little sister's jr. high graduation.

Alyssa will be in high school next year?! It's hard to believe. My little sister was born when I was in 8th grade and I remember how exciting it was to have a new baby in the family. She was a CHUNK, but the cutest little thing ever. I remember when I was college we headed up to my dad's for Alyssa's first day of kindergarten (we waited by the mailbox for the bus, but it never showed up because school started the next day **disclaimer: she wanted to take the bus because her older sister China rode on it). How could she already be going into high school?

I guess this is how parents feel. I know I'm already feeling it with Aubrey. How could they possible grow up so quickly?

Strutting her stuff down the walk of fame (it was a Hollywood theme)

Alyssa and Chinalyn

Alyssa has grown up to be a beautiful and intellegent young woman, just like my other little sister China. They both have adorable little size 0 figures, wonderful skin and such beautiful faces. More than that though, they're good girls with great values. They're involved in sports and activities and they maintain HIGH GPA's. Alyssa got all the top awards for her grades (she had a 4.0 all year long) and her citizenship. On top of that, she was the prettiest one on the stage (I may be a little biased) of only 17 graduates. Alyssa has gone to the same SMALL school since kindergarten. China's 8th grade class only had 6. The ceremony was planned and executed by the students and from what I saw of it, it was lovely. (I spent most of my time on the playground behind the graduation. It's hard to tell a 1 1/2 year old no when every other kid is playing on it.)



I'm so proud of Alyssa...and China!

Congrats Lyssa-roo!

Oh and check out little miss independent during the graduation. She was all about doing these by herself like all the big kids. I let her climb up by herself, but stopped filming when it was time to cross on the moving platforms.

Big NEWS!

Today, Justin got the call he had been waiting for. He interviewed for a vice principal position last Wednesday and was anxiously awaiting some type of information as to whether or not he got the position. He was supposed to hear by last Friday, but no one called so he was going to call around 4 if he hadn't heard anything. At about 3:30 they called and OFFERED HIM THE JOB! YAY!

I'm so proud of Justin. He's such a hard worker. Not only does he dedicate himself to the severely disabled students in his class, but he also comes home and helps out. He always has enough time to play with Aubrey or go on walk with me. He even maintains our yards in a world dominated by gardeners. On top of all of this, he has been going to school at night and on the weekends since we've been married. First it was to finish his Special Education credential, then his Master's Degree in Special Education, and finally his Administrative Credential. He's ambitious and dedicated and I know he'll do a great job as vice principal.

Justin really wanted to stay with the district he was currently working for, but they didn't have any positions available. His new job will be in a school for students with severe disabilities. Please pray for him and his adjustment to this new position, district, staff and school. He starts July 1st and we're excited about this new chapter in his career.

A Big Girl Room

We're not quite ready to make Aubrey her big girl room yet, but Justin's mom is having a yard sale next weekend, so we're going to try to sell the full sized bed when have in the "guest" room. A few years back, just before we got married, my mom graciously offered to buy us new mattresses. I asked for a twin and Christy got a full. Somehow when we moved into our houses, Christy ended up with the twin for Tyler's room and I ended up with the full because we had 3 extra bedrooms, so we had room for it. Now that we're starting to think about making Aubrey a big girl room, we know the full is way too big for our small bedrooms, so hopefully we'll be able to sell it. It's in brand new condition, just too big for us. Enough about that.

I really want to do a garden/bird themed room for Aubrey and I really love what our friend Allyson did with her daughter's room. She has built in book shelves and a window seat. When the time comes, I think we'll have to copy it, but for now I'm just looking for inspiration. I found these ADORABLE monograms while feeding my addiction of downloading digiscrap freebies. Check out the whole post here.

I think I'm feeling inspired!