Pictures from our trip

As you can see, the cousins had a blast! They loved hugging on each other all weekend, though John is a little less "touchy" than Jake and Warren...he'll get over that once he has a little sis.
Riding on the ferry to San Francisco, he loves boats!
Just after Jen's shower. Once again, we're both pregnant!

Grandma and Grandpa with Johnny on the day we left

Where do I start?

Well, we've just been so busy! Two weekends ago John and I flew down to my parent's house. The next day my mom and I drove with John down to my sister's house where all the cousins finally got to play. It was a blast and John sure loved his two new playmates. He was a bit overwhelmed at first with the chaos that accompanies 2 rambunctious boys, but quickly became part of the crew. The reason for the trip was so that my mom and I could go to Jen's baby shower for her first girl! It was so much fun and her friend Shiloh did an amazing job planning her first baby shower. There was great food, fun, fellowship, and words of wisdom from some of Jen's friends. Oh yeah, and lots of good presents too! We were very sad to leave on Monday for the long drive back to my parents' house and hope to see Jen and Ryan and the boys again soon. I don't think you ever really realize how much you miss someone until you see them again...I'm sad. Oh yeah, did I mention the weather? We were soooo blessed with 90 degree weather during our stay in Southern CA...blessed, you ask? Heck yes! I live in Washington and the weather here is horrible!! I'd just about KILL for some 90 degree weather here on a regular basis, sans humidity of course! Pictures from the trip to follow sometime tomorrow...blogger stopped uploading them tonight unfortunately.

Well, during that time Isaac was studying intensely for his EMT exam and working full time, and we just found out today that he passed that test with a 90%! Congrats Isaac, we're so proud of him and that's one less hurdle to jump before getting on a fire department.

At my parent's house we did a lot of relaxing and catching up on sleep for the first half of the week, then we went to San Francisco on a ferry on Thursday. It was a blast. My grandma and good friend Christy came with, and John LOVED the boat ride and getting to feed the birds at Pier 1 while we waited to go home. We ate some awesome fish and chips at Pier 39 and did a little shopping, but other than that it was pretty laid back. Sorry no pictures of much, just feeding birds. Friday and Saturday we stayed home and made the family come to us for visits, Sunday church, and Monday was a whole day of jigsawing stuff back into suitcases, having one last meal at In & Out, and making the trek back home. Being gone for 11 days is fun, but tough without a husband and we were both glad to be home again with Isaac.
John was all set up on my bathroom floor at my parents watching Cars while I got ready in the mornings!



So far this week we've gone to a couple playdates with friends and I actually took John in the stroller for a killer 4 mile walk on hills yesterday! It was nuts and I'm not sure I'll do it again very soon, but I'm working on getting in better shape right now...my midwife told me to slow the weight gain today! Doh! I guess being at my parents' house is an open invitation to pig out on good food (Mom, Dad, that's not a bad thing, hehe!) and now I'm on a diet (kinda). Today at my appointment Baby Girl Stegman (who we think we've named, but I'm hesitant to print it until I make sure w/ Isaac) is still measuring small, so I'll be going back in 4 weeks for another ultrasound to measure her head (I guess it's behind in growth), for the gestational diabetes test, and for yet another appointment. That should be a doosy of a day.

As for John, he's doing great...mostly. Anyone with kids knows there will be good days and bad days, good hours and bad hours, and good and bad all mixed in at once sometimes too! He is such a joy to us on a regular basis and we're so proud of the little boy he's growing into. He's talking up a storm now and imitating almost everything we say (thanks to Jake and Warren's examples), and I love that he's finally starting to speak in sentences. They're often jumbled, and most of the time I'm the only one who actually knows what he's saying, but I love it! He also recently learned to hold pens, crayons, and eating utensils correctly! It's so cute to see a 21 month old color or eat his food with his utensil properly in his hand, just like a little man. He's quite proud of himself for it too!

As for the bad...it's not really bad, just plain toddler behavior. From what I know about myself as a toddler, he's the spitting image of me! He has quite a contrary nature and will oftentimes play the contrary game of "I want that...and now that I have it, I don't want it anymore!!!!" I'm learning more and more patience with him in this area, but am still at my wits end sometimes as to how to train this trait into something Christlike. I mean really, what do you do with a toddler who just asked for his water, and when he got it, threw it at your face...and then wants it back again? Hmm, anyone? We're doing our best at learning how to parent John specifically and praying for God's wisdom in loving him constantly and dealing with certain behaviors that aren't acceptable. Okay, I'll quit rambling. I hope everyone is well, hope to see each of you soon!

This is John on his twin bed, with his great Pottery Barn quilt from his second cousin Josh. He loves it!

Changes coming...maybe

So I guess it's been a while since I told everyone what's really going on with us, other than "Johnny happenings." We've been busy, and then not so busy at the same time. A couple of things are coming up on the horizon though for which we're very excited!

First, Isaac has been doing wonderfully in his fire department testing process. For the Seattle F.D.: He took their written exam in February and passed with a 96%, yay! Early March he went to the first Oral Board Interview and passed that as well. His second Oral Board Interview is April 28th. If he passes this, he'll be qualified to take the CPAT (physical exam), and if he passes that, he'll be put on a waiting list for a job slot with the Seattle F.D.(they're hiring 30+ guys this year)! He also took the Public Safety Exam early last week, which is an exam that over 40 different departments draw qualified applicants from. He amazingly scored a 99.99% on the test and is now preparing for the CPAT for those departments. (What a smartiepants I married!) If he passes the CPAT his scores will be sent to those 40+ departments and he should be contacted for job interviews from at least some of them. Most of the departments are hiring several new guys this year, some as many as 7-8 new guys before the end of the year, so the situation seems favorable. We don't have our hopes resting on any specific departments, or even on the guarantee of a job this year, but it seems as though all signs are pointing towards Isaac becoming a firefighter soon! We'll keep you informed throughout the whole process though.

Second, we WILL be moving fairly soon. We are waiting just a couple more months to be in a financial position to move (and hopefully before #2 makes her arrival), and as soon as we have the money and have found a suitable place to live in or around the Kent area, off we'll go! We're so excited to be able to move closer to our church where we know God wants us to get involved in service.

Other than that, nothing too huge. Johnny is now sleeping in a "big boy" twin bed and loving it! We were blessed beyond belief after putting a wanted ad on Craigslist.org and receiving about 8 offers for twin or toddler size beds. The one we picked up is amazing and doesn't look like it's ever been used! Today I picked up a simple bedframe for it from yet another generous person who I found on Freecycle.org and we're all set now. I'm still lovin' staying home with John, and especially being able to put my little guy in cloth dipes every day; we consider it quite a blessing for me to be able to stay home with him and our next one so that I can continue with cloth. It's been much easier and a lot more fun than I ever anticipated and I'm glad knowing exactly what's going on his heiny. I encourage anyone with children in diapers to find out what your kids' underwear (diaper) is made of...the results might shock you if you check it out!

Some old pictures...from March

The Strong Man

Just some Easter pics

We went to the Stegmans after church on Easter. It was a laid back time and Johnny had lots of fun with his cute little basket full of bunny stuff. Here's a couple pics...sorry, I haven't taken any since!
I'll post again soon w/ some pics I had before Easter though...