Fun at Odyssey 1!

I took John to a place called Odyssey 1 on Friday and he had a blast! Sorry the pictures are kinda blurry, he was having too much fun to slow down. There's a prego belly shot too, in case you were wondering why I was already complaining at 11 weeks! ;) (And I look so, um, natural because it was right after a shower, yuck!)

Our Little Gummy Bear

Isn't s/he cute!? I guess...kinda weird looking at 3D pictures of our little one so early but we think it's so cool! I had my first ultrasound today and they changed my due date to August 7th (from the 11th, no big deal) and said everything looks good so far. I did the typical giving of several vials of blood, filled out some paperwork (though there's a separate appointment to fill out most of it next Tuesday), made some more appointments, added our insurance, etc. etc. We were all there for over an hour and it was quite a disaster for John (he hates doctors) but we made it and it's so nice to have some wonderful pictures of the tiny guy.

If you don't know what you're looking at, I don't know how to help since there's no labels. It's pretty cut and dry that it's a baby, head looking down, arms up, and legs meeting at the feet. The bulge on baby's stomach is supposed to be some of the internal organs which are still forming outside the body, and you can see the umbilical cord coming away from the chest for now. Hope it makes sense to your eyes!

Finally...more stuff

Yes, he got a babydoll...he loves it! We thought he needed one to take care of since mommy's having one soon.

I know it's been a long time but I've had morning sickness (all day, of course) for about a month now. That's how long it lasted with John, but it started a lot earlier this time so there's still no end in sight. I'm almost 11 weeks pregnant and will have my first ultrasound on Tuesday the 15th; we can't wait to hear the heartbeat and see our new little peanut! S/he should be about the size of a grape this week and that little grape is making me pudgy! I already dug out all my maternity clothes and started wearing them since my other pants were just too tight!

Well John has been growing and learning so much lately, it's hard to keep up! He's quite a chatterbox these days and loves repeating words over and over again, just to make sure he has them right I guess. He still loves his crib and going to bed more than anything since he only gets his loveys and paci's in bed, but it's quite a blessing to have a child who begs for sleep sometimes! Our favorite thing to do during the day is sing and dance. John loves the ABCs, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and I'm a Little Teapot, and sings some of the words right along with me (but mostly A B B A B C B B B...he loves the first 3 letters of the alphabet and only sings those when we do that song!) He has learned where the baby is, though sometimes he points to his own tummy when we ask him "Where's the baby?" It's really cute, though I don't think he actually grasps the concept, nor will he anytime soon.

Isaac has been working A LOT! He got a great job at LA Fitness right next to our house doing what he loves best...sales! He sells gym memberships and has already been "pre-promoted" to the Weekend General Manager after only 9 days of being there! He will find out for sure after this weekend if he "proved" himself to be worthy of the position, but we know he can do it. He has been working about 58 hours per week, which has been hard on us all, but it was a blessing to get the job and the extra hours during our tough season so we're all working through this trying time.

Here's some pictures from Christmas...very late, but hey, don't complain, you're not sick all day right? Thanks for being patient w/ me.

"Thanks for my cool Cars stickers cousins Jake and Warren, they're great!"

Sorry we don't have any pictures from Christmas day at the Stegmans, I forgot my camera and don't have time right now to dig around Kathy's Picasa site for some good ones. Maybe eventually I'll put some up...don't hold your breath.

Lots to update

Hi everyone, sorry it's been so long, I was away from home for a while and it's pretty hard to get back into the groove after so long! (Meredith...you should know!) Where to start? Well, if you hadn't already figured out the previous post (and I'm sure you did), I'm pregnant, due on/around August 11th. I hate due dates though, so none of you better start asking those all too annoying questions like, "Are you still pregnant!?" and "You haven't had that baby yet!?" That's a good way to get deleted from my e-mail list for good! Things are going pretty well...I think. I mean, I can't see the baby but I feel tired and kinda sick already but that'll pass, and I think I've probably already gained weight but oh well. I'm not freaking out...just going to have to break out the maternity jeans a little earlier this time.
Fun with daddy before our trip!
Johnny and I took a trip to my parents house Dec. 2-11th. We were supposed to fly home on the 7th, but my parents blessed our family tremendously by buying us a minivan! I absolutely love my new (to me) car and it's great not to have to move the carseat all the time! It is a "champagne" colored Honda Odyssey that fits 7 people, so we're pretty well set for a while, hehe!

We had a wonderful visit at their house and spent lots of time hanging out, sewing, playing, visiting family and friends, eating good food, and shopping of course! John's favorite part of the trip was riding on the motorcycle with Grandpa Cliff (my dad). We all thought he would be terrified since it's so loud, but to our surprise, he was grinning ear to ear when they rode back down the driveway after the first run. John couldn't get enough and was pretty upset when motorcycle time was over, but there will be plenty more of that in the future (Grandpa will make sure of it!). Here's some videos and pictures of Johnny and Grandpa on the motorcycle.





This is Johnny and Alex, a family friend
Well we got home after a 2 day drive and were both wiped out. It was nice to see Isaac again and John is still very attached to daddy since we've been back. Every morning when he wakes up the first thing he says is "Daddy? Daddy?" and he waits for Isaac to go get him up. It's pretty cute and we realized was can't go on too many long trips without daddy again. He's too missable!

Lately Isaac has also decided to switch gears and try getting into a new/old career of firefighting. He has always desired to get back into firefighting or possibly police work and decided now would be the best time in our lives to get things going in that direction. He has already begun to study for tests coming up in January and April, and just decided to get a night job as a security guard, during which he might be able to study a little as well. I'm so proud of my husband for being so determined and doing what he needs to do to switch gears. We know God is going to bless all his hard work in this transition!

Johnny's Drawings

Hi everyone, we just wanted to show you how talented Johnny is...really! He drew these today for when Isaac came home from work, hehe! Get it?...

I'll be due sometime early/mid August!

Making Cookies and Taking Baths

Well we've been stuck at home all week since John is sick...he got rid of the cough (mostly) and now just has a horrible cold with lots of snot! I know, nobody really needs the details, but if I don't tell you then you won't know how bad it is! So in order to stay sane and happy, we baked cookies. (Yes, that's a highlighter in his hand, which he wouldn't let go of, and he dipped it in the dough!) We had a lot of fun, and mostly ate dough!

Johnny has started wandering the house all day asking to take a bath. He goes in to bathroom and waits in the dark for me to come run him a bath. Yesterday I found him playing with bath toys in the tub with no water! He's so funny. He still loves to draw with crayons too...or more accurately, he loves watching mommy draw things with crayons. Last night before bed, I drew some fish on his paper with an orange crayon and he pointed to it and said "cracker." Our boy is so smart, hehe!

I also wanted to let you all know that Isaac is doing well and he is healthy. Last week he was having chest pains one night and so he decided to go in for a physical. His appointment was yesterday and the doctor said everything looked great and even his blood pressure was down a bit! Wheew! We were a little worried but now we're glad to know he's healthy and there's nothing to worry about. Thanks for all your prayers about this :)

Rainy Day Activities

Well it's quite wet already, and we are having to be creative with things to do during the day that are cheap and entertain a 16 month old (like that's hard! he plays with rocks). Last week we went to Chuck E Cheese and discovered the magic of Bob the Builder. John rode that silly tractor toy about 8 times before I had to pry him out of it to let other kids ride. He discovered "money" there also; he still has a Chuck E Cheese token and some foreign change that we dug out of our money jar, which he carries around all day. He loves putting it in a cup and jingling it. So far, he calls it "mummy"! He has also discovered coloring with crayons! My industrious littly boy will sit in his high chair for 2 hours straight coloring on blank pieces of paper. It's a nice break for me during the day, yet I worry about him getting enough energy out if I let him sit still for so long. I guess he's doing what he wants though! Two mornings ago I found John standing on the kitchen table. I went into the bedroom to fold laundry, came out to check (eerie silence in the house) and there he was, standing in the middle of the table grinning at me. I just about had a heart attack and needless to say, now we always push the chairs in.

We are also very into playing in the rain. John looks so adorable in his little rain boots and long rain jacket! He LOVES stomping in puddles! Last week while we were outside he fell into a 4" deep puddle and just laid there smiling until I picked him up. He was so wet that I had to dump water out of his boots!

We all drove the other day just to take pictures for my mom of the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge which was built right next to the old one. Here's some awesome pictures...can you believe we live 2 minutes from this?! Very pretty scenery up here in Washington! Oh yeah...and that's "our" mountain from the highway right by our house, Mount Rainier.

We did have an excellent Thanksgiving with Isaac's family. John had a blast running around the Stegman house chasing and being chased by Aunty Abby and Grandpa Stegman, and the food was to die for! We're still working on getting rid of the yummy leftovers that Kathy sent home with us...this afternoon was turkey Sandwiches and tonight is turkey soup with veggies, yum! John, unfortunately, finally succumbed to his oncoming cold and is quite sick. He has had a little bit of a cough and cold for about a week; now, after an exciting Thanksgiving and very unrestful night of sleep in a different place (we stayed at the Stegmans), he has Croup and a terrible cold and fever. Hopefully we dont' have to take him to the doctor, but Croup has gotten the better of John several times now, so we probably will. I don't have any of my own pictures of Thanksgiving, but as soon as I borrow some we'll post them here. See most of you soon, we're visiting CA early December!