The Pearson Family

I'm sick of being sick!

2012-02-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Actually, I'm fine. Ethan has been fighting a cough and this past weekend he got a high fever, but we got it down. Then Jason came home from teaching in San Diego. He got hit with a 102 fever, sore throat, ear ache, chills, sweats....ugh. So I took him to urgent care. Strep Throat! So he has been passed out for a couple days but is starting to feel better. Now I'm just trying to keep everyone else from getting sick. I'm exhausted. It's not easy taking care of the house and sick people while being 5 months pregnant. But at lease I'm not 8 months pregnant trying to do it. That would suck.

Ultrasound Pictures!

2012-02-16T11:36:00.000-08:00

On Feb. 6th Jason got to go with me to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. Tada! It's another boy. Big surprise there! Anyways, I'm just now getting around to posting the ultrasound pics.

Here is the undeniable evidence that it is another boy!

Side view

That's his knee up there by his face.

Front of his face

Anyways, we are excited. We have all the boy stuff so it will be fun to pull it all out again. And, let's get through this pregnancy and a year or so down the line before asking if we are trying for a girl next. Haha.

Halfway

2012-02-04T19:41:00.000-08:00

I am about halfway thru my pregnancy. 20 weeks baby. And that means I can get my ultrasound to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I'm nervous and excited. I feel like there is a lot of pressure on me to have a girl, since we just have boys. It's not bad pressure, heaven knows I would love to have a girl. But I don't want anybody to be disappointed if it's another boy. The running joke is that we make the boys and everyone else makes girls. The only boy cousins are my brother Dean's kids in Idaho. The rest are girls.

The ultrasound is Monday. Jason got the day off so he gets to go with me. My mom will be coming up to watch the boys for us.

I was re-reading my past blogs from my pregnancy with Michael, and was reminded that this was the time when I found out I had placenta previa with him. (It fixed itself before a C-section was needed) But it got me thinking: am I at a higher risk for it again since I had it before? I did some research, and yes I am at a higher risk. I'm mentally preparing myself for it so I won't be shocked if I have it. And it's actually making me worry less about the gender of our child, because really, all we want is a healthy child and pregnancy. It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl. Not in the grand scheme of things.

I haven't taken any pregnancy pictures yet because I haven't felt like I look pregnant. Today I did. So maybe I will get some up here soon.

As with all my pregnancies, I lost weight in the first trimester. I started out at 188. Yikes! At my last appointment I was laughing, because the nurse said I gained 2 pounds and I was 180. So that means I lost 10 first and then gained to back. Pregnancy: Best. Diet. Ever. At least for me. I'm glad I don't tend to put a lot of weight on, because I have such a hard time losing it afterwards.

I didn't have much morning sickness with this one either. Slight nausea but no sickness, and it didn't feel as bad as it did with the boys. I've felt pretty good so far, though recently my pelvis has been stretching and moving, so it hurts a little when I try to shift my position. But other than that, it's a very easy pregnancy. If I have cravings, once I feed it, it goes away. Like, I really wanted peaches, which aren't in season, but I bought some canned ones and once I had them I was good. Overall, I've preferred to have healthy, fresh foods over processed or overly rich foods. Double helping of salad please!

Anyways, I hadn't really written any pregnancy stuff down, so I wanted to get it out before I forgot. It was really nice to look back on my previous blogs, so I want to do the same again. Thanks for listening!

Yuck!

2012-01-13T18:26:00.000-08:00

Well, I wasn't going to blog about this but sometimes life is gross. And I'm exhausted so I need to post to get it out of my system.

Wednesday Michael awoke from his nap and I discovered he had thrown up. He had been showing no signs of illness, just a slight runny nose. I thought maybe he just gagged. Nope, that night he threw up 2 more times. Great.... The next day my mom came out because I had a doctor appointment. He made it through his nap fine, so we thought he was ok. Nope, threw up again shortly after he went to bed. That was last night. He made it the rest of the night but woke up very sniffly and not wanting to do much. He has only thrown up once today but that was more from gagging on a tortilla chip I made the mistake of giving him. So Ethan has been fine, but this afternoon, he said he had a stomach ache and then threw up all over my bathroom floor. At least clean up was easy. It was mainly juice but it rattled him. He's feeling better now but I'm wary.

On top of this, I've been dealing with this pretty much by myself. Jason has been out of town so I've been single mom. I'm proud of myself that I could deal with this alone, but I'm looking forward to him getting home. I'm so blessed to have someone who will help me clean up the messes of life. But mostly, I hope my boys feel better soon. I hate seeing my babies sick.

Monrovia Canyon Park

2012-01-07T19:02:00.000-08:00

Today we were trying to figure out something fun to do as a family. We decided to go on a nature hike. We've been meaning to do one of these for quite awhile but it's either been too cold or too hot. It's been warmer this week but not too bad, so after Michael's nap, we packed up a picnic lunch and headed out on an adventure. Very spur of the moment.

We got to the park and started on our way. It was about a 30 min walk from where we parked the car to the end of the trail, which was a waterfall. The hike up was a bit steep but manageable. We would have stayed longer at the falls but there really wasn't anywhere to sit so we took a couple of pictures and then headed back to have our picnic.

We ended up back at the car at 4:45 only to realize Jason had left is phone where we stopped to picnic. So I stayed in the car with the kids while he made the walk back. He was pretty winded when he got back to the car. But he found his phone! Yay!

We got home around 6, gave the boys some dinner and now they are crashed. We might be calling it an early night too. We need to get out more and be more active! But we had a great time together!

The End of a Year

2011-12-31T19:26:00.000-08:00

I make no apologies for the lack of a blog. Our life got pretty busy and I just didn't have the time or energy to update Facebook and this blog.

It's New Year's Eve and I had to write something. So much has happened. First, we are expecting our 3rd child somewhere around June 24th. We are very excited and see this as most likely being our last. Lots of different emotions going on. My brother is also expecting his first child about a month before me. It's neat to be pregnant at the same time.

Some thoughts: This year has had some ups and downs but mostly been a good year. The hardest part was dealing with the firsts of losing my grandma. This past year had all the first holidays without her. We miss her so much and the presence she brought to our family but I know we will see her again. The best parts of the year, for me have been all the togetherness. A new baby was born in January. Lots of fun and laughter has been had. Ethan started school and is thriving! I am so proud of him.

This next year should be great. My cousin is also expecting her second child in March so 3 babies will be born and my other cousin is getting married. Who knows what else might happen? More engagements? You never know. I wish everyone a very happy new year and hope it holds wonderful things for all!

It's been about a week

2011-09-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to be better about keeping up on my blog, and being able to do it has been great. However, I miss adding pictures! But when the day is done, I just want to relax with Jason and not have my face buried in the computer. So I have a neglected blog. I think I might try blogging on the phone and then later, go back and edit the posts by adding pictures. We will see how that goes.

Last Saturday we went to the LA Arboretum, which I a huge botanical gardens. It cost 8 bucks for adults, 3 for 5 and up and 5 and under are free. We had never been before and the weather was supposed to be cooler Saturday so off we went. Holy cow, we walked in and about 5 steps later BOOM! Free range peacock right there in front of us. No way. It was just chilling. I can't wait to post the pictures. Ethan was 4 feet from the sucker and would have got closer if I let him. Over the course of the day, we must have run across 20, various sizes and coloration. So cool. Worth the money just for that. This place is very stroller friendly and even. Not hilly at all so you can cover more area without getting winded. I read later that the 3rd Tuesday of every month is free for everyone so check it out.

This past Tuesday, Ethan had his first Back To School night. It actually was more of an informative night, but we did get to see his classroom and some of the crafts he's made. Today I got a letter from his teacher saying that he's getting a special certificate on Monday for all the progress he's made so far! So proud!

Other than that, it's been day to day stuff. I'm looking forward to the fall weather and gearing up for holidays. I'm already thinking of Christmas because I want to try and do some crafting. Hope it goes good!

The Mundane

2011-09-15T00:09:00.000-07:00

I'm about to blow your mind with how exciting our week has been. Well...not really. It's mostly been mundane, with a couple of doozies thrown in there.

The biggest one is the water heater. Oy! We came home from running errands Saturday, ready to give the boys a bath, and no hot water. Wha? The pilot light went out on the heater. Only catch was, that after it was lit, it wouldn't catch what it was supposed to and ended up smothering out. Boo! What a blessing to live near Jason's parents because we just loaded up the boys and took them over there for baths. Jason's dad came and looked at it but couldn't fix it. So the rest of the weekend no hot water. We called the gas company Monday and they came and looked, said it needed new parts but that would have to come from the manufacturer. Ugh. Well, Jason's parents just purchased a new one and Jason helped his dad install it Monday afternoon. Thank you! From the bottom of our hearts.

Somehow we lost water pressure in the kitchen sink, which ended up being an easy fix. The filter on the faucet got plugged. We pulled it out and voila! Water! So thank you again to Don and Jeannie for saving our butts.

The other crazy thing, is that my email got hacked. Someone got into it and changed the password on it from the inside. I couldn't check my email for 2 days. Ugh. It's fixed now, but I am going to get a new email and gradually start using it instead.

The rest of the week has been kind of uneventful but I'm grateful for that because it means nothing crazy is happening.

I want to say congrats to my cousin, who just moved into her first house this past weekend. No one deserves it more than her. And one of my dear friends is having a very hard time right now with some personal stuff and I wish her the best and hope everything works out for her. Love ya chica!

Tomorrow is Thursday, which is followed by Friday and I am looking forward to the weekend!

Remembrance

2011-09-10T23:45:00.000-07:00

I think it's important to remember as much as we can. It's easy with happy memories. It's harder with the sad ones because all we want to do is forget. I'm posting this tonight so that it can be read tomorrow...and we can remember.

10 years ago, I was oblivious. I had been married for 2 months and just such a naive 20 year old. I woke up, too early for my tastes, but I was scheduled to opened for Admissions at CSUSB. I was tired and didn't want to be there. I walked in and found my coworker listening to the radio. (Ugh. News. I hate the news. Can't we pit on some music) He told me a plane had crashed in New York, right into one of the Twin Towers. So we sat and listened while we got our office ready for the day. As we were listening, we heard them announce another one had just flown right into the second tower. THAT got our attention. The first was an "accident." This second crash made it obvious that we were under attack. The calls started coming in. Would school be in session? We didn't know. Nobody knew if we were targets all across the country or if it was isolated to New York. In-between calls, I tried to contact my husband. At the time, he worked in an office in the parking lot of Angel Stadium. Would that be a target? What about Disneyland? That's just down the street!

He was fine and being sent home. Then we heard the Pentagon had been hit. (Oh My Gosh, this is not happening right now) Another plane went down in Pennsylvania. We didn't know if it was related to the others. We would later find put that brave Americans took over the plane and sacrificed their lives to keep this plane from hitting the White House.

School was cancelled and we were told to go home. I drove to my grandparents because at home I would be alone. When I finally got there, I was able to see the footage of the planes crashing into the towers. Words cannot describe it. But then...we watched as the towers collapsed, one at a time. I cried. I cried out of fear. I cried for the people I didn't know who were caught in those buildings. I cried for their families. I cried for the service men and women who lost their lives, running into the wreckage to save others. I cried for my brother.

My brother, who 4 months before had received his commissioning as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. I knew he would be going to war. I didn't know when, but I knew.

He served 4 tours and he is with us today. We are lucky. I am lucky to have such a wonderful brother, who fights for those who cannot, who didn't have a chance that day. God bless him.

My story is not special. I didn't know anyone personally who lost their lives that day. But I will remember them. They never had a chance to fight. If I can, I will fight for them. If I can't do that, then you better be sure I'm keeping their memories alive. Never Forget.

Please, share your story. Whether you leave a comment here, or write it somewhere else, even if it's in a private journal. Share it.

Remember.

Random thoughts

2011-09-07T23:52:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a specific thing I want to write about, but it's almost midnight and I can't sleep again. So I thought I would write a couple of my thoughts down. Lately they have been about Ethan and school, because that's the most exciting thing going on with us right now. He's doing really well. Next week is Back To School night and I'm looking forward to seeing all the things he's been doing in class. He also came home with 2 things: the Parent/Teacher handbook and his first permission slip for a field trip. Woohoo!

Handbook: mostly just rules but what I was excited to get was the list of school holidays and breaks. You should see this thing! There are so many things to remember. Minimum days, shortened days, no school, conference week. Whew! He gets a week of for Thansgiving and 2 weeks for Christmas. I need to look again but I think just 1 week for Spring Break.

Field Trip: it's in 3 weeks and to the LA County Fair. I'm going to try and go. Hopefully Mom can watch Michael. I also have to get a TB Test in order to go with. My mom wasn't able to go on many field trips with us when we were little because she was a working single mother. But the few she could go on, I enjoyed. My favorite was when she went with the HS choir to Washington DC. It was fun to experience new things together. So I would like to go on Ethan's 1st. Just to see how he does and be there to take pictures. Hopefully he will enjoy me too. When he heard I had to get a "shot" he said, "Mom, you don't need to go, I'll be brave." He didn't want me to have to get a shot. So sweet!

Anyways, that's about it for now.

Oh! The salon I took pictures for has their website up and running. If you would like to go see the pictures I took, the address is: www.sonnysalondayspa.com.

Go check it out!

A Fabulous Weekend

2011-09-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't written any new posts because we have been pretty busy! Having lots of fun with lots of pictures to come, but I just wanted to sum it up!

It's Labor Day weekend and Ethan came home from school Friday with no homework. Woohoo! So I decided to take the boys to the mall, which I don't ever do by myself. I am trying to get better at things like this. There is a weekend long event happening at the mall because they opened a bunch of new stores and updated their play area. Radio Disney was there with fun stuff and there was face painting, balloon animals, and all kinds of crafts. So we went, did some stuff and had dinner.

The next day we went again, and today we went again. Dad was able to come with us today.

Let me back up to yesterday: one of my friends had her baby! So Jason told me to go have a night to myself. I went and picked up my mom and we went to visit her in the hospital. Cute little baby boy! After that, my mom and I went to have dinner and dessert. It had been forever since just the two of us did something so it was nice. With all the visiting, I didn't end up home until midnight. My husband is the greatest!

This evening we went to my aunt's to celebrate her two youngest daughters' birthdays. It was a lot of fun and nice to visit with the family.

I want to post some pictures, and when I do, I'll elaborate more. Have a happy Labor Day Weekend!

You'd think...

2011-09-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

You'd think that at the end of the day, when it's been a cranky day, and I have to wake up at 6:30, that I would be snoozing away at 12:45am. But NOOO! My brain keeps thinking about all the stuff I want to do tomorrow or this weekend or next week or this bill that needs paid or Ethan's back to school night (in 3 weeks) or his first field trip (in 4 weeks...to the county fair!). Ugh! I can't even do anything about these things right now.

I've tried silencing my brain...nope
I've tried focusing on breathing...nope
I've tried visualizing peace and sleep...nope

Hopefully blogging about it will get it off my brain and send me to dreamland!

I'm glad tomorrow is Thursday. Then one more day and maybe I can sleep in. I'm glad there's no school on Monday. It will be a nice break. It's been a little rough adjusting, Ethan gets tired too but he loves school. So worth it!

I don't like minimum days

2011-08-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you why I don't like minimum school days: it messes up my schedule! Depending on what time Michael wakes up in the morning, I put him down for a nap between 10 and 11. This works great when Ethan gets out of school at 2:20. He wakes up by 1:30 and we are out the door by 2 to pick up Ethan. On minimum days, Ethan gets out at 12:45. I need to leave the house by 12:30 to go get him. That's not a very long nap if he goes down at 11. And he only takes one nap.

So today he was acting tired at 10. Ok, perfect. Except he never fell asleep. I kept trying to get him to sleep but nope. So I had no choice but to keep him up, which meant cranky baby. He had an afternoon nap today instead and he didn't wake up until 4. Usually he goes to bed between 6-7. That's not very long between sleepy times. Now he's staying up later which means I stay up later.

We ran a couple errands in an attempt of mine to tire the boys out. I first took them to get some dinner, then we went to Sam's to pick up a couple things. I did pretty good by myself and the boys were good.

So in short, I'm ready for bed!

A change for me

2011-08-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad Ethan is in school. It's a kick start that I needed on so many levels.

Everyone knows that when you have kids, your house gets messier, your more tired, you don't want to do anything after they're in bed. At least, that's how it's been for me. I got in a rut of only cleaning when Jason got home so the kids wouldn't bug me or after they went to bed. Sometimes I wouldn't even then because I just wanted to relax. Taking care of kids is hard work, especially when you are a stay at home mom like me. It feels like I never get a break.

With Ethan starting school, I'm trying to rechange my way of thinking and doing. I wake up at 6:30, get dressed (he's usually up by then), make him breakfast, get Michael up, get Ethan dressed then it's time to walk to school. (I pack his lunch the night before)

After Michael and I get home, we eat breakfast then I relax for a few minutes. Then I find a chore to do. Today I tidied up the living room then I rearranged some things in Ethan's room and cleaned that. After that it was about time for Michael's nap. Once I put him down, I threw a load of laundry in. Then, depending on how I feel, I'll either keep cleaning or take a nap while Michael sleeps. Today I napped because I knew Jason had to work when he got home and I would still have the boys to myself.

I've been really proud of my changes. I am getting a lot of clutter out of the house and generally making the house look better which makes me feel better.

I forgot, when Ethan gets home, he has a snack and we relax for a bit, then we do his homework. It makes it so much easier than waiting until the last minute.

I'm also glad to be walking twice a day. Hopefully a little movement will help me drop some weight. It's also helping me drink more water. Yay me! It's just the kick in the pants I needed. :-)

End of the week

2011-08-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Today was the end of Ethan's first week of school. I'm tired and glad for the weekend, but I am super proud of my boy. He has shown maturity for his young age. Even when kids were breaking down around him because they were going to miss their moms, he held it together.

He has been having a blast so far in school. Sometimes he talks your ear off about school and other times he's quiet until you ask him specific questions. I know it's been hard for him to have a strict routine like this, but he's doing great. He falls asleep much faster at bedtime.

The teacher did some preliminary testing on Thursday and she said we have a very smart boy. We already knew that, but it's nice to hear a teacher say that. It tells me that I've been doing a good job. And not just me, all his family, reading to him and asking him questions about things around him. All of this has molded him into a great kid.

As a treat for finishing the first week, we drove up to Riverside this evening and went swimming at my grandpa's. It was a nice way to relax as a family and beat the heat. Afterwards we went to dinner with my mom, then headed home. Both boys fell asleep in the car. It's been a long but fulfilling week for us.

BSR Potluck 2011

2011-08-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the BSR Potluck. Boy was it hot! But we had fun.

Ethan with Crystal's son.

Crystal and her daughter

The Band

Michael being snuggly

Our little family. The sun was in our eyes and Ethan was not happy about it.

BSR Potluck

2011-08-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

Oh here comes a band post!!

If you did not know, I was in marching band in high school. Let me start by saying it was one of the best things of my youth and I almost missed it.

BACKSTORY:

My brother was in band. I had learned clarinet in elementary school but I gave it up for choir. But because my mom was a single mom, if she went on a band trip with my brother, most of the time, I was with her. He was a senior when I was a freshman. So we went on band trips and I made friends with the other kids. He graduated and sophomore year began for me. I wasn't in band so when anything related to that happened, all my friends were gone. It didn't take me long to realize that that sucked. I had already missed band camp, but with my mom's ok, I went and asked the band director if I could still join. He said yes, but as part of the pit (marimbas, bass drums and other non-marching instruments). Cool with me, I just wanted to belong. That day a cymbal player came to practice with a broken arm. Guess who took his place on the field? Me! With no idea how to march. Somehow I learned. I did that for a week, then the kid got cleared to come back. But I didn't go back to the pit, because a trombone player showed up with a broken leg. So I took her spot the rest of the season...and I basically had to learn the show again because I was filling in in a different spot. Go me!

In the off season, I learned how to play the trombone and the next year I got to go to band camp and learn how to march and play! (Band Camp is 2 weeks of marching HELL because it's in the Californian summer heat!) I continued in band the rest of high school and even made Horn Line Captain my senior year. That means I take over the band when no drummajors are around and am a glorified section leader. So fun!

END OF BACKSTORY

At the end of band camp every year, there is a potluck, where family, friends and alumni are invited to come and see the band perform and how they are doing. That was tonight. It was hot, but I love going because it gives me a chance to remember the achievements I made during high school and to show my kids what I was a part of. I also get to see old friends and reminisce about the "good 'ol days".

It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed seeing everyone. Maybe we can make it out to a football game or band competition this year. THAT would be awesome!

A Nice Surprise

2011-08-25T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last night we got a phone call from Jason's friend Frank. He's been stationed in Germany for the past 3 years and he and his family just got back stateside. Anyways, they are living in Arizona but were out here in California for a couple days. They decided to swing by and surprise us with a little visit! It was nice to catch up and see how much their kids have grown. Their youngest was born in Germany so we had never met him. Ethan had a blast playing with all the boys and showing off his room. We've missed hanging out with them, there's always so much laughter and good conversation. We can't wait to hang out with them more!

Gaining Confidence

2011-08-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

It might seem random to talk about New Year Resolutions in August but stay with me...

When this year started, I didn't set any firm resolutions. More like ambitious desires. I want to lose weight, but I don't want to go crazy doing it. I wanted to pick some things to improve on myself that might aid that ambition, but if it didn't happen, I wasn't going to stress about it. Gosh I have bigger things to worry about right now more than my figure.

Anyways, my main ambitions for the new year were to cook more meals at home, spend more time giving attention to my kids, and to improve myself, mentally, spiritually and physically. But again, if I only succeed at one, it would be being with my kids.

So today I want to talk about improving myself. I have a lot of things I would like to change: low self esteem, low faith in my talents, not speaking my mind, letting people take advantage of my need to do for others before myself. I could go on. I've been trying hard to communicate my wants and needs for myself, for me to see Cari again and not "Jason's wife" or "Ethan and Michael's mom". Although I love being those, it's not all of me.

The last couple of days have been a big step for me. I'm talking about my photography. I have a long way to go before I get where I want to be, but to get there, I have to start walking. I took baby steps on Saturday...and I fell down. But I got back up. I looked at where I went wrong and today I fixed part of it. I stumbled a bit, but I don't feel like I fell again. I have some people to thank for that. My husband helped me to see where I could improve. Many friends and family offered encouragement and belief in me. My mom helped by keeping Michael for me. And my in laws let me borrow their camera, which after handling, makes me realize I REALLY busted mine when I dropped it 2 years ago. So because of this, it is helping me build confidence and faith that if I keep taking steps in the right direction, I could really do something with my dream.

It was a long and exhausting day but I learned that I am improving myself and doing what I love and that makes it all worth it.

It's some kind of record!

2011-08-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

I am loving blogging from my phone! This is my 3rd post today. Technology is good. :-)

Anywhoo, tomorrow is a busy day! I'm off to take Ethan to school again, (of course) and then my mom is coming over to watch Michael while I go back to the salon and take a group shot of the spa technicians ( most weren't there Saturday) and to take some more shots of the salon. Now that I have done it once, I have ideas how to do things differently.

Then it's back home to pick up Ethan from school. Can't wait to see what he does tomorrow!

Ethan's First Day of Kindergarten Pictures

2011-08-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

School started at 8am sharp, so I had most of Ethan's things ready the night before. This morning all I had to worry about was getting him fed and dressed. He woke up on his own at 6:30 this morning, saying, "Do you know what day it is today???? School!!" I hope he keeps his enthusiasm. He had an apple for breakfast while Mom got dressed and everything ready so that when it was time to go, we could wake up Michael and head out the door. Michael woke up on his own though, and we headed out the door at 7:30. It takes us 10 minutes to walk to school. We got there about 7:40 and the gates were closed, with a bazillion parents and kids hanging out, waiting. At 7:50, the bell rang and the gates opened. The kindergarteners have their own seperate area, which makes it nice, they don't get lost in the shuffle.

Ethan before we left the house.

Saying "later" to Michael

Waiting for class to start.

The parents got to go into the classroom with the kids while the teacher gave us some info and then read a story to the kids about the first day of school. Ethan was not shy, he even announced it to the room.

Ethan on the rug.

Michael being entertained while the teacher gave us the low down.

We said our goodbyes and Ethan did great. No tears from him or mommy. On the way back home, this was the sky. It was gorgeous.

Michael and I had a quiet morning at home and then he took a nap, which made it REALLY quiet. I tried to lay down and get some rest, but my mind kept going back to Ethan...Wondering what he was doing, if he was still ok, did he eat his lunch.

I didn't need to worry. He did great! Running to me after class.

Hey mom, let's go home.

After Daddy got home, we took him out to the mall to celebrate his milestone. We had McDonald's and then got ice cream for dessert.

My boys. Ethan was full of energy.

Happy Michael

Having fun at the mall.

Definitely not a baby anymore!

Ice cream buzz!

A drawing from school

Michael going for a spin.

We had a lot of fun today and Ethan did an awesome job at school. Jason and I are so proud of him and the way he handled himself. Way to go big guy!

My baby started Kindergarten

2011-08-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

On the day Ethan was born, it seemed like it would be an eternity before he would go to school. All of a sudden, he's 5 and 1/2 and starting kindergarten! Where did my baby go? The time flew by, and although I'm not like most moms, wishing I could have kept him a baby longer ( I really hate changing diapers), I do kind of wish this time would go a bit slower, because it is such a huge part of life. I'm going to blink, and he will be in high school! It's just so amazing.

Growing up, I knew I wanted to be a mom, and now, on the flip side, I find myself asking my mom questions about how she worked school lunches or lunch money, and what questions I should ask the teachers. My memory of being in school doesn't prepare me for the behind the scenes aspect of it. I find it all fascinating.

I'm going to post pictures later of him in his uniform, getting ready to go into class, but I just wanted to get a few thoughts down first. This wasn't a long blog but I'll get another one up tonight.

Michael words

2011-08-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

Michael is starting to talk. He is more understandable and he keeps adding more words to his vocabulary. Let's see if I can get them all written down.

Wa wa- water
Juice
Hot dog
More
Bok- broccoli
Shoes
Guck- duck
Baberry- strawberry
Fug- frog
Fish
Bird
Nigh nigh- night night
Na na- banana
Apple
Ca ca- cracker
Mama
Dada
Tada
Nose
Tip- chip
Wow
Whoa
Oh no
No
Bruh bruh- brother
Dog
Cheese
Poop
Tash- trash
Fush- flush
Car
Nu nu- nukie (pacifier)
Nummy- M&Ms
Ball
Beck- blanket

Yesterday when I wasn't home Jason said he said Pop Pop for popcorn and cha for chair. I can't think of anymore right now, but if I think of more I will try to write them down here.

I'm my own worst critic

2011-08-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

Today was my big photo shoot at the salon. I was super nervous and so glad my mother in law was there and I wasn't flying solo. It helped to ease me in and gain a report with the stylists and clients. I had an absolutely fabulous time taking pictures of all the different styling techniques and getting to know everyone. I was there for 4 hours and left smiling. Everyone thought I was very professional and one person asked for my business card (which I don't have, but what a complement!).

Then I got home and looked at my pictures on the computer. I did get good shots, but out of the 426 I took, maybe 50 are usable. And half of those will be difficult because Jason won't be able to rotate them or crop them the best way for the website. Aw nuts!

I am being super hard on myself because I know I can take good pictures, and I thought I did, but what you see on the camera doesn't always come out right on the computer. I felt like crying. I feel like I let Jason and his mom down, not to mention all the stylists, who I'll probably have to take pictures of again. I know I'm being irrational, but I had such a great vibe during the day and then it's like someone let the air out of my balloon. :-(

But I have a great husband who is cheering me on! We are going to work on editing the pictures and see what we can do. Then we will just have to work out a time for me to do it again. The next time I will do better. I know what needs to happen now and I will still do my best to get it done. Thank you to everyone that wished me well and that believes in me. It really helped today knowing I had a cheering section. :-)

So excited...and nervous, but it's good!

2011-08-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

I am an amatueur photographer. I would LOVE to do this professionally. 2 problems: 1) no money for better equipment 2) no time or places to really practice and hone my skill.

But I am super excited because I have the opportunity to do a semi-professional photoshoot tomorrow. Yay! Here are the details:

My mother in law works at a salon, where she is an excellent beautician. She has gotten work for Jason building the website for the salon and a website needs pictures. Enter me. Woohoo!

I am blessed to have a mother in law who has faith in my photography skills enough to have me take pictures of the salon in action. I'm to take a group shot of all the stylists and some in action shots of everyone doing their thing. I already went over there when it was empty and took pictures of the salon as a clean slate. I'm nervous because I've never done anything like this on this scale and I hope I do a good job.

If you are in the San Gabriel Valley and you want your hair or nails done, or you're interested in a spa treatment, come to Sonny's Salon and Day Spa. Located off the 10 fwy, exit Barranca. It's excellent and everyone is super nice. Hey, you might even see some of my photos!

I love being a parent, but I hate having sick kids.

2011-08-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

I just feel so helpless when my little ones aren't feeling their best. The day I went to see my mom this week, I had an allergy attack. This is not rare for me. My nose ran, I sneezed like a machine gun and the next day I ended up with a sore throat from it all. But my kids were ok so I didn't think much of it. But late yesterday afternoon, out of the blue, Michael starts having a runny nose. Babies and runny noses are not fun. Constant wiping, cuz that stuff gets everywhere. I use a cloth diaper like a handkerchief because it keeps the nose from getting irritated. Anyways, he had a difficult time falling asleep because of this, on top of his room being very hot. At one point last night, we had 3 fans going in there. He also had a hard time staying asleep. He was miserable! Nothing we could really do to help. So mommy and daddy were zombies today because we didn't get good sleep either. Daddy had it worse though cuz he had to get up at 5am for work.

He felt better today but still not tip top. He did go to sleep better and he's sleeping soundly. I hope he feels better in the morning!

Meet and Greet...yeah right

2011-08-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

I got a call last night at 7:30 letting me know that there was going to be a Meet and Greet at Ethan's school the next day from 12-1. Oh great..right during Michael's naptime. I didn't really NEED a sitter, but I really didn't want to walk to the school with a cranky baby AND try to talk to the teacher. Thanks Mom for coming all the way out here and hanging out with us today, but more importantly, being able to just focus in Ethan.

I met the teacher, Ethan got super shy, and I found out I wasted money on school supplies I didn't need. He needs absolutely nothing for school except his lunch and school uniforms. I'm glad I don't have to worry about making sure he has all his supplies. But it would have been nice if that info had been given to me before I bought a whole bunch of stuff. You might think, "why didn't you wait for a school supply list?" Excellent question! Problem is, I've never gotten one. Just today I got the school lunch application and school starts Monday. Really? Not starting off on the right foot here.

My lesson for today is that I am going to need to be a bit more pro active than I originally thought. Woohoo!

I really am excited to see my first born get ready to start school. His excitement is the best part of this whole thing. I hope he thrives!

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday!

2011-08-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

After the long eventful weekend, it was nice to not go anywhere on Monday. Ah, chill!

Tuesday, I took the boys up to my mom's house because I was meeting a friend from high school to take some maternity pictures. She and her husband are so excited to start their family, and her joy was written all over her face. So my mom watched the boys while we went to a park to snap photos. The first park we went to had an ant problem, so we ended up going to a different park. I had a lot of fun catching up and clicking photos. She's due September 6th, which is my nephew's birthday! I wish her a speedy and (mostly) pain free labor!

The rest of Tuesday was just hanging out with my mom, which was nice, because usually when we are up there, we end up running all over the place. It was nice to just sit and catch up on whatever had recently happened over the last couple of days.

We ended up going to this little burger joint for dinner. Let's see if I can describe this: the fountain machine was different. It had a space for one cup at a time. You pushed a lever and got your ice. Then you go to the touchscreen. TOUCHSCREEN people! If you wanted Coke, you tapped on the Coke button. THEN it gave you options for which kind: cherry, vanilla, grape, etc. Once you picked the flavor, you hit the dispense button and out comes your soda. Groovy. The sign said there were 106 drink possibilities. So cool!

Today was Wednesday. I woke up with a sore throat. Blah. It felt better through the day but I still do not feel tip top. So we didn't go anywhere today. My mom is coming up tomorrow to watch Michael, because at 7:30 tonight, I got a call from Ethan's school saying there is a Meet and Greet tomorrow from 12-1...right in the middle of Michael's naptime. It will be easier to go to without a crabby baby. So thanks Mom for coming to help me out!

Thanks for reading about my adventures! More to come...tomorrow!

Past Sunday~ Birthdays!

2011-08-17T23:55:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, practically my whole family was at my grandpa's house to do a joint celebration for the people who had birthdays in June, July and August. This included Jason, Nicole, Adam, Morgan, Justin, Bryan and Lauren. Whew! I kind of like doing the big get togethers because you get to see everyone all at once and then have a great party.

My brother, Adam, grilled up some hamburgers, hot dogs and bratwursts. There was a lot of good grub. We ate around 2 and then around 4, my uncle Bryan arrived with his family, who had been celebrating Lauren's birthday up in Lake Arrowhead over the weekend. She had about 8 friends with her, so when they showed up, it was almost like watching a clown car empty, there were so many people!

After they ate, we had dessert, which was 3 different kinds of cupcakes (strawberry, German chocolate, and a chocolate peanut butter) AND a peach crisp. Yummy! My favorite was the strawberry cupcakes. After dessert everyone opened gifts.

I really do love getting together with my family. There is always some kind of craziness, but there is also a lot of laughter, which is the best part!

Saturday!

2011-08-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Saturday and we packed it full of good stuff. Jason and I both tried to catch up on some sleep by taking turns napping in the morning. After Michael's nap, we headed down to San Clemente to a housewarming party for Jason's brother Ryan and his wife Hillary. There was traffic the whole way, which took us 2 hours to drive. That's not fun with 2 kids. But once we got there, we had a great time. Their house is gorgeous!

We stayed until about 8:30 and then headed up to my mom's. She said she would watch the kids so we could go see a movie. We just tucked the kids into bed at her house and then stayed the night after the movie since today we are celebrating birthdays up here.

The movie we saw was Cowboys and Aliens. It's a story about a cowboy who wakes up with amnesia, and some crazy metal bracelet on his wrist. He's trying to figure out who he is, and while that's happening, aliens come and start abducting people. So the posse goes and tries to get their people back. I won't say anymore cuz it would give away plot points. Jason and I enjoyed it but it wasn't as good as we hoped it would be. This movie is based off of a comic book so don't expect a typical western movie. There were a couple of unanswered questions and plot holes but we mostly enjoyed it and recommend it but maybe more as a rental.

We got back to my mom's about 1am. The unfortunate thing is that Michael was restless which meant we couldn't sleep. He woke up at 8 but we probably only got 4 good hours of sleep. Oh well! In a little bit we will be heading over to my grandpa's to have lunch and celebrate a bunch of birthdays! I'll be blogging about that later. Bye for now!

Huzzah!

2011-08-13T00:15:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my husband's job can be blah. Sometimes it can be awesome! Tonight was one of those. A few weeks ago his company was given discounted tickets to Medieval Times. $27 bucks a person. Normally they are 34.95 for kids and 59 for adults. So we decided to go tonight! The price was good for more than just us, so we invited Jason's mom and dad to come with us.

Ethan was so excited that he was going to see a castle! The show started at 6:30. We were assigned to the Green Knight, who turned out to be the bad guy. But green is Ethan's favorite color so he didn't care.

The food came and was so good. They served this tomato/vegetable/minestrone soup that was really good. Since we had Michael with us, it was a bit hard to juggle, but we ended up putting a straw in the bowl and he went to town! This boy loves food of any kind. Awesome.

Ethan is our picky one, but even he couldn't resist the chicken. Both kids did really great and enjoyed the show. Michael even clapped for our knight. It was nice doing something a bit different that we wouldn't normally get to do because of the price. Ethan had a great time and he loved being able to share it with his grandparents too!

Party Time

2011-08-12T00:19:00.000-07:00

My cousin Janet flew in from Texas this week for her work, but she had time for a family get together. She also had her 14 year old son with her, so it was kind of like a little family reunion.

I headed up to Riverside after Michael's nap and helped my mom set up the table at my grandpa's house. Ethan helped put the leaves in the big dining room table and he was so proud that he could help. No one was really there yet, so I got to visit with my mom and aunt for awhile.

My cousin Ashley got there next, and she had her 2 little girls with her. Ethan was so happy to play with his cousin and Michael "tried" to play with the other baby. When Janet got there, she had brought desserts, and boy did she bring it! There were 6 pies! Coconut Cream, Chocolate Cream, Banana Cream, Pecan, Peach and Apple. Whew! And what a sweetheart she was, she knew I didn't like pie, so she brought me a special donut. Thanks again Janet!

My other aunt arrived on her heels with dinner. Mexican! She lives by a great taco place so she got a bunch of tacos and all the fixings. Yummy! Dinner was great, but the best part was visiting with everyone. I am so thankful to have a big family. It makes get togethers so lively, and no matter what room you end up in (cuz you're chasing kids), you always have a great conversation to jump into.

I did take pictures, but by the time I got home, it was late and I wanted to spend some time with my hubby, who got home from San Diego today. So pictures to come! I got some great ones!

Wow I must be tired

2011-08-10T23:21:00.000-07:00

I realized halfway through my day, that yesterday's post had Wednesday in the title. Oops! I hate when I make mistakes like that. Oh well. It comes with the territory.

Today was uneventful. Normal day to day stuff. The kids had a great time getting into all kinds of toys. Ethan got into a box of toys that had musical instruments and dinosaurs. (Great combo right?) Anyways, while he was playing with dinosaurs, Michael was making music. He banged the drum and shook some maracas. But pure joy spread across his face when he found the harmonica. He was so tickled to find that when you blow into it, sound comes out. I love seeing the cheesy grin he gets on his face when he thoroughly enjoys something.

So the house is a big mess right now but I don't really care. We will pick it up tomorrow.

Jason is in San Diego right now. :-( I miss him. But I'm blessed because I get him home tomorrow. I know so many people that don't get to see their husbands, sometimes for months at a time. They are strong women. I get all sad when my husband is gone. I'm thankful for those women in my life because they keep me from taking my husband for granted.

I wish I had more interesting things to share right now. But don't worry: I should have more to tell over the next couple of days!

Oh, I also have friends who also have NO husband and are raising kids on their own. I have to shout out to them too because they do it ALL. You gals rock! And you have a special place in my heart because I was raised by a single mom. :-)

Wednesday Night Musings

2011-08-09T23:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a nice day. Although Jason had to teach very early this morning, he was done by 11. We were able to have lunch together and then he went to the office to catch up on some work. It was nice to have him home earlier than usual.

I can't believe how fast time flies. In less than 2 weeks, my oldest starts Kindergarten. Right now he is excited...hopefully that feeling stays. I enjoyed school, for the most part. Math was my biggest adversary. It's not that I was bad at it, I just couldn't get excited about it...not like reading. I enjoyed high school the most because I was lucky to be involved in both band and choir. I am one of the few people I know, who would go back to high school, but mainly for the arts. Someone asked, recently, on Facebook what books we read in high school and would recommend. I couldn't think of a single one, because I just don't remember. My heart was in band and choir.

So I hope Ethan enjoys school like I did!

Michael amazes me everyday. He understands so much and boy is he stubborn! If he doesn't get what he wants, it's a good 30 min tantrum. He loves M&Ms, just like his big brother. Ethan called them Emmies. Michael calls them yum yums. So cute. But he gets mad when he doesn't get them. I just have to let him cry for awhile, especially if he hasn't eaten anything healthy first. Can't have dessert before dinner!

Tomorrow, Jason will be traveling to Oceanside. He has to teach there the next day, so he gets a hotel the night before so he doesn't have to wake up so early. I am so glad we have a stable routine for the boys' bedtime because it makes it easier when I'm the only one putting them to bed. The rest of our week should be interesting. We have family dinners, housewarmings and birthday parties all within about 5 days. Hopefully, I will have lots of pictures and stories to tell! Hope everyone has a good night!

Phone Blogging

2011-08-08T20:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm putting Ethan to bed, which consists of sitting in a chair next to his bed, waiting for him to doze off. Teeth have been brushed, stories have been read and prayer has been said. So I entertain myself by goofing off on my phone until he's asleep. If I didn't, I might fall asleep in this chair myself!

So I am obviously WAY behind on my blog, which isn't a huge deal, since I constantly update our lives on Facebook. I think it's very important, since it's one of the only ways I can keep some family updated on what's going on with us. It's hard when loved ones are scattered across the country. So I'm not going to try to update the blog by going back. I'm going to try and move forward. Being able to do some of this from my phone is a blessing. Usually when I turn my computer on I have little grubby fingers trying to play on it. :-) Makes it hard to get things done.

My blog has fallen behind, mainly, due to me wanting to spend more quality time with my husband. I'm a lucky girl to have him home most every night and I don't want to take that for granted. Also in the past year, I lost my grandmother to Pulminary Fibrosis. Because of this, less important things have fallen to the wayside, and I've spent more time taking the kids to visit family in Riverside when I can. I want them to know the last great-grandfather they have and to also let him see the kids. Life is too short to not spend with your family, if you are on good terms with them.

I know that was a bit vague, but I am typing this from my phone! (Technology is so cool)

My goals from this point forward are to try and blog once a week. Hopefully with pictures. I may get a couple of phone posts up each day, just so I can chronicle what goes on day to day. I do want this to be a type of journal for myself and family, so keeping it semi up to date would be great! I hope everyone has a great week!

Trying something new

2011-08-08T09:23:00.000-07:00

So I'm testing this out to see if I can post a blog entry from my phone. Well, it's a bit difficult so I don't know if I'll do it again. I can't load pictures, so it would be more like diary entries. Now the next test is if anyone can read this after I publish it!

Michael 1 month old

2010-04-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here are a few random pictures of Michael at one month old. I need to be better at taking pictures, but I have been kinda tired. I will try to do better. I'm still adjusting to having 2 kids!

Michael blue eyes

Can you tell who loves his little brother?

Just documenting the size difference in their heads.

My boys!

Little hands

Bathtime! We were keeping his head warm with the washcloth.

Cutie pie!

Asleep after bathtime

More to come soon!

Happy Easter 2010!

2010-04-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Easter was fun. We just spent it with Jason's family this year. My family was kind of spread out, so it was an easy choice to make. Anyways, we gave Ethan his basket at home and then headed over to Sara's for the annual egg hunt. The Pearson's basically have a competition to see who can find the most eggs, and they get a trophy and their name on a plaque. Also whoever gets the least amount of eggs gets a trophy that is the back half of a donkey...guess who lost? Yep, yours truly. Out of 400 eggs, I found 17. But I also just had a baby and couldn't run around yet. The winner was Josh, with 59 eggs. Congrats Josh!

Ethan's face when he saw his basket

Ethan's basket

He wanted to be a cowboy for Easter

Josh the winner

Ethan with one of the girls new rabbits. The Easter bunny brought them 2 bunnies.

This picture is a little blurry but I loved Ethan's face in it. He totally has a Pearson face in this one..he looks like Matt.

Charlotte with the bunny ears we got her.

Papa Don

Happy Easter!

Brooke's 3rd Birthday

2010-04-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

The 21st of March was my niece Brooke's 3rd birthday. We drove over to her house to celebrate. They had a big princess castle bounce house and ponies for a pony ride. It was our first big outing with Michael after his birth. We had alot of fun and it was nice visiting with family.

Jason's mom with Charlotte

Ethan and Brooke. They are best buds

Ethan on the horse

"Hi Dad!"

I just love the way Brooke looks in this picture.

Sara and Brooke

Papa with Brooke and Lily

Sara and Charlotte

Michael thinks he's a pirate...

Charlotte with her daddy

Grandma Jeannie and Michael

Lily with the pinata

Ethan getting the crowd going...

Watch out...Ethan has a bat

Brooke broke it open

Happy Birthday Brooke!

Michael: Week 1-2

2010-04-18T18:17:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of Michael between one and two weeks old:

Fun

2010-04-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

This is just a blog of a couple of fun things that Ethan did lately.

Ethan with cousin Carly

I don't know what they were talking about, but it looked interesting.

Ethan found a roley poley

Wearing our friend's ren fair costume.

Visitors

2010-04-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

We have had a few visitors who wanted to meet Michael. It was really nice that people drove far to come see us. I wanted everyone to meet Michael as soon as they could, so it meant a lot to me to have these visitors.

My cousin Amanda holding Michael

Amanda, Ethan, Aunt Silvia and Lauren, with Michael

We drove up to my grandma's one day because my cousin Janet came out for a visit from Texas, so we invited more people over to meet Michael. This is my cousin Nicole with Michael

My mom with Michael

Janet with Michael

Janet's son Stone with Michael

My cousin Justin with Michael

Thank you to everyone who came to see us, either in the hospital or at home. I know we don't have pictures of everyone, but we still love you and are glad you were able to celebrate welcoming our newest child into the world!

Michael Drew Pearson: Born March 4th, 2010

2010-04-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

If you have been reading this blog, you know that the last 2 months of my pregnancy were VERY uncomfortable for me. Michael was VERY active in the womb and my back hurt a lot. Everyone thought I was going to deliver early, but that wasn't the case, as much as I would have liked to. I was dialating, but very slowly. I had an appointment on March 3rd, and I was 2 centimeters. Since the 4th was my due date, and my doctor knew how uncomfortable I was, he asked if I wanted to be induced the next day. I jumped on the chance. Ethan was a couple of days late, and I hated it. This way, we were able to get all of our things we needed for the hospital and Ethan staying the night at my mom's, and we still had our heads on. We both got to take showers and just enjoy a slow pace to the hospital.

We drove up to my mom's to stay the night, since we had to wake up at 3am, and we didn't have to wake Ethan up. It was pouring rain when we left, but the day turned out to be beautiful.

When we got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the monitors, we discovered that I was already having contractions. They were about 15 minutes apart, but they were there. I guess the lower back pain and shortness of breath I had been having were contractions. Now I knew what they were, so I was able to tune into them. They started me on pitocin, but the lowest dose to help the contractions along. The never needed to up the dose, which was a good thing. I just needed a jump start.

Right about when the contractions were getting slightly uncomfortable, the doctor came to give me an epidural. I did not have one of these with Ethan either. I'm lucky and didn't have any complications, so my feelings on epidurals is why wouldn't anyone want to have this? I was so comfortable, and able to rest and enjoy the experience. This was giving to me at 11am.

Shortly after, Jason's mom got there and went with Jason to go get lunch. I was cool with this because I had no pain. At about 1pm, I started to feel things a little more, but still no pain. The nurse told me what I should be feeling when I was getting close to deliver. She said the doctor would probably call around 1:30 to see what my progress was. The nurse left and about 5 minutes later, it felt like Michael was moving down. So I called the nurse back in to check me and I was 9 cm. She said she could easily stretch me to 10. So, they started getting all the stuff ready for delivery, and paged the doctor. The nurse helped me start doing practice pushing. This is where the epidural was really nice. I was in so much pain with Ethan, that I couldn't pay attention to what the doctors and nurses were telling me. I just wanted him out so bad, that I pushed when there were no contractions and ended up tearing so bad, that it took me a long time to heal. This time with Michael, I was aware of my contractions, and I was able to let everyone know when I was ready to push and when I didn't feel it anymore and could take a break. Michael was born at 1:56pm, was 8 lbs and 19.5 inches. I tore very little and I've had a much better recovery time. Best of all, I enjoyed the experience and actually would have another child! Thanks to my mom for watching Ethan so I didn't have to worry about him, thanks to Jason's mom for being there with us, and helping Jason coach me through, and thank you to my wonderful husband for being a great support to me. (Am I giving an acceptance speech??) Enjoy the pictures!

Dr. Lee with Michael

New baby Michael

Ethan meeting Michael

Mom with Michael

Grandma with Michael

Morgan with Michael

My friend Yvonne with Michael

My friend Crystal came down and took some pictures of us with her nice camera. Thanks!

Jason and Michael

Me and Michael

Baby foot

Family

Welcome to the world Michael! We love you and are so glad you are here with us!

Griffith Observartory

2010-04-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

At the end of February, we took one of our last outings as a family of 3 to the Griffith Observatory. I had never been there before. I was quite surprised that you could see the Hollywood sign from there. Apparently, it's where many people take their pictures with it. We were no exception. Anyways, it was a very nice day, even though I was very uncomfortable. Looking back on it now, I realize I was having light contractions, but didn't recognize what they were because they were very different from the contractions I had with Ethan. I just thought I was generally miserable.

Ethan and Jason with the sign

Firing off the Tesla Coil. That was pretty cool

Seeing how hot we are

I have no eyes, because they were burning out of my head!

Ethan with Dad's sunglasses

Checking out the sun through the telescope

Future astronaut

The Hollywood sign.

Pretty flower

My goofballs.

Baby Shower for Michael

2010-02-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, my cousin threw me a baby shower. She had help from my mom and my sister-in-law Morgan. She did such a great job and it made me feel so special. More people came than I expected, which just made me feel so loved!

Here is the food table

A diaper cake one of the family friends made for me.

My cousin hung up onesies for decorations. So Cute!

Yvonne and her sister.

Some of the presents. My mom got me the cradle. Isn't it cute??

My grandma!

Denise and Jennie, close friends of my mom, but they are mine too!

My sister Morgan and cousin Nikki. Thanks girls!

Playing a "draw the baby on your head" game.

My cousin Amanda was really into it!

Sarah won! (I need a better picture...hers looked most like an ACTUAL baby...even though it had a tail!)

Ethan helping me open presents with great vigor!

What I'm showing him is a picture frame that says "Me and My Brother" that I can put a picture of the 2 of them in. I can't wait! He thought it was great.

My cake. Oooh it was so good!

Thank you again to Nikki, Morgan and my mom for putting this together for me. It really did make me feel special. The better part was being able to show off my house to everyone and just visit. It was wonderful!

Valentines

2010-02-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day, I thought it would be nice if Ethan made cards for his cousins. I helped him a bit, but mostly he did it all.

This one he made for Charlotte

This was for Brooke

And this was for Lily. This one he wrote "Happy Valentine's Day Lily" all by himself. I had to do the other two. He did sign his own name on all of them.

I had alot of fun doing this with him, though it tired me out, but everything tires me out these days! I can't wait to not be pregnant anymore. Happy Valentine's Day!

Poppy's Birthday

2010-02-21T15:37:00.000-08:00

This past Tuesday was my grandpa's birthday, so we all got together at his house to help celebrate. My sister-in-law Morgan, made manicotti and my grandma baked him a cake. It was nice to get together and celebrate with him. We also got to video chat with my brother, who is in the South Pacific right now with the marines. That really made my grandpa's day.

His Birthday cake

Everyone around the computer, chatting with Adam

Morgan and Adam

Being sung to.

Blowing out the candles

Justin with Carly, enjoying her cake

Morgan and grandpa

Ethan helping open gifts

A new hat light that he got.

Happy Birthday Poppy! We love you!

Charlotte's Baptism

2010-02-21T15:30:00.001-08:00

On Valentine's Day, we were down in San Clemente to help celebrate Charlotte's baptism. It was nice to hang out with family and celebrate with this precious little girl. It was fun.

Ryan, Hillary and Charlotte before the ceremony

Charlotte getting baptized.

Part of the ceremony.

Ethan, Brooke and Lily playing outside afterwards.

Brooke and Ethan. They were hiding under a counter at Hillary's parents house.

After the ceremony, we went over to Hillary's parents for a brunch and to visit with everyone. Ethan had a blast running around and we just enjoyed being all together.

36 week update

2010-02-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

So here's my 36 week update. I am tired, and cranky and ready to have this baby. He is more active than Ethan ever was in the womb, and if you've met Ethan, that is hard to believe. So, it would be hilarious if Ethan turns out to be the calm child.

Everything is going well. I had a couple of scares early on with this pregnancy, but the last couple of months have been uneventful, which is good. I am starting my weekly appointments, with the next being this Friday. I don't know if they will start checking dilation then or what. I do know that at the 38 week check up, the doctor will to an exam to make sure he's head down, and probably dilation will be checked as well. As of today, I have 24 days until the due date. Jason thinks I will go into labor the last week of February, so we will see. I'm just ready to have my body back. Not that I had the best looking body, but I'm ready to not be a baby motel anymore, and to see what Michael looks like and what his personality will be. Ethan asks almost daily now when he will get here. I think he'll be a great big brother, and I hope I'm not wrong about that.

On another note, we are all moved into the new house and I will be taking pictures soon so everyone can see what we've done with it. I'm just too tired right now. Below is my 36 week photo, and as you can see, I'm exhausted. I have raccoon eyes! But I'm happy, which is the important thing. Hope you enjoyed the update!

Happy Birthday Paul and Chelsea!

2010-02-08T12:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, we celebrated my uncle and cousin's birthdays. His is the end of January and hers is the beginning of February. It was alot of fun. We did an italian potluck and ALL the food was so good. I ate too much, but it was worth it!

Paul and Chelsea blowing out their candles.

Cousin Ashley and Carly

The birthday kids!

My little munchkin!

Enjoying some strawberry ice cream

Happy Birthday you guys!

Moved!

2010-01-25T21:20:00.001-08:00

It's official! Jason and I have moved into a house. The first one we have ever lived in. It's his grandparents house that we are renting from Jason's parents, and we are so grateful to them for it. Ethan has been bouncing off the walls with excitement ever since, and just that alone, makes the move and chaos worth it. We are trying to get everything unpacked and situated now, and hopefully, it will all be done by the time Michael makes his debut!

Pictures!

2010-01-25T21:11:00.001-08:00

I wanted to share some pictures that my friends Crystal took of us. She is taking classes for photography and also thinking about starting a business, so she offered to take pictures of us for free. Usually I am behind the camera, so I jumped at the chance. I also wanted some pictures of me being pregnant. I never had the opportunity to get them done when I was pregnant with Ethan, so this meant alot to me. However, I was not feeling well that day. With all the packing and getting a house ready to move into, my body was just hurting. Anyways, I tried to look the best I could, but in a couple of the pictures, you can tell I don't feel good. Anyways, here are a few of the pictures she took. She is still editing more, but it's taking awhile because she just moved herself! So enjoy, and I will post the rest when I get them!

I like this one, because you can't tell I'm 32 weeks pregnant!

One of my favorites of my current little family.

Ethan

He conquered the maze!

Belly shots

Thanks again Crystal! Maybe you can come take pictures of Michael when he gets here? :-)

UPDATE: Random info

2010-01-17T22:10:00.001-08:00

So here is my update blog. It will be apparent why it's been awhile since I posted something.

First: Pregnancy. Nothing really new, except, I'm getting bigger! I am 33 1/2 weeks now, which is a little over 8 months. Michael is still moving like crazy and I feel like he's dropped, because I can feel him moving around lower. Everything is looking good and I can't wait to meet him!

Second: My cousin is pregnant! We just found out a couple of weeks ago, and she is due in July which mean we will have babies close together. She and I are 2 months apart, so it's kinda like having that all over again.

Third: We are moving! Jason's parents are renting us his grandparents house for a reasonable price. It's in Baldwin Park, 4 bedrooms and a backyard! I'm so excited for Ethan to get to run around. So the past couple of weeks, we have been over there, cleaning and painting and getting all the rooms ready. I have to thank my mom and cousin Nikki, because they did ALOT of work, because I can't do much being pregnant, and Jason has to do little odd jobs to keep an income coming in. We wouldn't have been able to do it without them. Yesterday, we moved alot of boxes into the house and some light furniture. Pretty much the only stuff we have left to move is our beds, fridge and hutches. Hopefully we can do that next weekend, if it's not raining, and be completely moved in. Then we get everything put away, and Michael should be here. Crazy! It's going to go by so fast.

Anyways, that's why I haven't been around much, because we have been busy, and many nights I have been so tired, that I crash at 8pm. I'm an old fuddy duddy. Heehee.

Hope everyone else is doing well in cyberspace, and I will update some more soon!

My Brother got married!

2010-01-17T22:03:00.000-08:00

This might actually be a boring blog...to look at at least. I'm too tired to upload all the pictures. On Dec. 29th, my brother Adam got married. Woohoo! It was a beautiful wedding and he is so happy. My new sister in law, Morgan, is a sweetheart. Unfortunately, about a week after getting married, my brother got to deployed. Darn it. It would be nice if they could be together for awhile before he had to leave! At least he's not in a danger zone. So, this doesn't have much info right now, but I wanted to share the news! I'm so happy for my brother and new sister!

Crafty!

2009-12-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

I hadn't posted these yet because they were Christmas gifts for my nieces. I tried to be more frugal this year because we have limited funds, and so I decided to make pillows for the girls. I haven't really sewn alot in my life, other than cross-stitching, so I was nervous. But my grandma helped me, by showing me how to use her sewing machine and how to close some stitches. Here are the pictures of the pillows.

Lily's pillow

Brooke's pillow

Now I'm ready to start more projects. Let's see how I do!

Whew!

2009-12-25T23:34:00.000-08:00

I have updated my blog. Just scroll down and get a glimpse into what's been going on. I should have more stuff next week because my brother is getting married! Please keep reading. I know I have been sporadic, but I get exhausted very easy and the last thing I want to do is sit in front of the computer!

30 week update!

2009-12-25T23:19:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday, I am 30 weeks pregnant. Woohoo! I'm getting closer, and it feels so good, because I am getting pretty uncomfortable. Here is my update: As you know, I was diagnosed with placenta previa, which was going to be monitored to see if it corrected itself. It has and I am so happy about it. I don't feel like I have to walk on eggshells anymore, thinking I might detatch something. I also had my glucose screening test. This is the test to see if you have gestational diabetes. My first test came back with elevated levels, so I had to redo it. Those results came back, and my levels are fine. Yay! So, I am not too worried about anything. Baby Michael is moving like crazy, even as I speak, which at times, feels wonderful, and at others, I feel as though he is trying to punch his way out. It is a great sensation, and a painful one at the same time.

I also have some new pictures. The first 2 are my belly with the Alliance Crest from World of Warcraft painted on it. Jason painted it on my belly, because Blizzard (the company that does the game) is making a mosaic out of people with either the Alliance or Horde Crest in a picture with them. I thought this was a creative way to do it, and I've always wanted to do some kind of paint thing on my belly that was unique. The last picture is me at 29 weeks, just my regular preggo pic. Enjoy!

For the Alliance!

I feel so big.

Christmas!

2009-12-25T22:12:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas festivities started on Monday. We had a lovely dinner at my cousin Nicole's house. There was lots of fun and laughter.

Ethan being cheesy

With grandma

That was the best smile I could get...

With Morgan, Auntie and Nikki's grandma

Adam, Morgan and Ethan

Watch out! Nikki has a beebee gun!

Better smile with grandma

That's my brother...

Jason

Like father like son

Adam spilled whip cream on himself. Earlier in the night, he knocked over his beer and broke some furniture. It just wasn't his night.

Christmas Eve, we did my family's tradition of having dinner together and then driving from house to house to watch everyone open their presents. We started with Auntie's house.

Auntie's Christmas tree.

Auntie opening one of her gifts.

Gabe and Ethan. Best bud cousins.

Next was my mom's house. We had her presents, ours and my brother and Morgan's. Here is her Christmas setup.

Ethan with his new knight shield.

Last stop was grandma and grandpa's house. We had their presents, along with my great uncle and Uncle Bryan and his family.

Grandpa opening a box of fly swatters from my mom. I just love the look of glee on his face. He was so happy to have mesh fly swatters. You can't buy them in the store anymore. My mom had to order them off the internet, and she got him 12 of them. He was soo happy!

Lucas got a soccer ball grill from my brother. It was a big hit. Ethan loved it too.

Here he is modeling the lid. He thought he was R2D2.

Ethan wearing his new Optimus Prime costume.

My mom showing off the mask.

Ethan slept in this morning until 7:45. Woohoo! He came into bed with us and we had our usual morning routine. I told him to go turn the light on in the living room and soon after we heard a squeal and then little feet coming back. He said, "There are presents! Santa came!" It was awesome.

Ethan in front of his gifts from Santa.

Showing off the loot.

Opening the big present. It was a Batman Adventure cave.

Ethan also kept asking for a Jack-in-the-box. Lucky for him, Santa got one last minute. Here is his reaction to it popping open.

Checking out his stocking.

"Socks?!"

His new easel from Great-grandma and Poppy.

At 3 we went over to Sara's house to have Christmas festivities with the Pearsons. I don't have many pictures because my camera battery died. Whoops! Here are the few I have.

Ethan driving Lily's new Cadillac Escalade that she got for Christmas.

Baby Charlotte!

Ethan checking out his new finger puppets that he got from grandma and grandpa.

The family opening gifts.

Papa Don with one of the puppets Lily and Brooke got from them.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and I am so glad we got to spend it evenly with all of our family. It was such a nice holiday. Now we will get to have a bit of a breather. Whew! Merry Christmas!

Pictures with Carly

2009-12-25T22:00:00.000-08:00

My cousin asked me to take pictures of their family for Christmas. I had fun doing it. It was nice to know that someone thought I was good enough to do this for them. I am nowhere near professional, but I'm better than just regular old family pictures. So here are the ones that I thought were good.

Justin, Ashley and Carly

Carly getting some fiber...

...tastes good!

Ethan and Carly

Yep, that's my goofball.

Gardening the tree.

Carly with the tree.

Cousins.

Thanks Justin and Ashley for trusting me to do this for you!

Happy 5th Birthday Lily!

2009-12-25T21:44:00.000-08:00

My niece Lily turned 5 on the 16th. She had a great birthday party. She had a bouncer, clown, and cotton candy machine. Also, they got to beat up a pinata. Woohoo! Here are the pics!

Lily with her face painted.

Brooke with Ariel

Ethan with a snake balloon animal.

Jason getting us some cotton candy. Mmmmm.

Ethan got a lizard...about 2 seconds later, he wiped it off.

The kids watching a magic show.

Lily helping with the magic.

Lily with her pinata

Brooke taking a whack.

Ethan's turn.

Lily going full force!

The candy mayhem.

Happy Birthday Lily!

Ethan's Birthday at Disneyland

2009-12-25T20:58:00.001-08:00

We took Ethan to Disneyland on his actual birthday. You get in free on your birthday, and if you are a season pass holder, and your birthday falls on a day that you can get in, they give you an alternate gift. Ethan got a gift card to spend in the park that was worth $62, which is the price of a child's admission. Score! So we went and had a great time! Here are pictures and what we did that day.

Ethan showing off his new age.

The California sign all decorated for Christmas.

The end A

Ethan and Dad

Lots of characters were out that day. Ethan got alot of pictures with his favorite characters. Here he is with Pluto.

Mickey!

Minnie!

Waiting in line with Dad for the rocket ride.

Ethan is very into posing right now, and he likes to do silly poses as well. Here he is looking GQ.

Here he is looking like a goofball.

Again with the silliness.

On the rockets...Jason got a bit queasy with Ethan at the wheel.

We got very lucky and Ethan got picked to do the Jedi Training Academy. Yay! I'm so glad they picked him, because it was the best thing that could have happened to him on his birthday. Here he is waiting to get his lightsaber.

Getting warmed up.

Here comes Darth Vader

Darth Maul. Scary!

Ethan fighting Darth Maul

Ethan fighting Darth Vader.

Trying to figure out who was talking. Of course, our son his the only one not paying attention.

Ethan with Goofy

Posing again.

Dad and Ethan posing on Donald's boathouse.

Playing hide and seek with dad.

On It's a Small World. It was all decorated for the holidays.

Tick Tock

Ethan got his face painted like a pirate.

Up close with Dad.

See what I mean about posing?

He wanted to go show the fairies his face painted like a pirate.

With Tinkerbell

We left Disneyland around 5pm and went to Downtown Disney to see The Princess and the Frog. It was really good and Ethan loved it. I loved it because I didn't have to walk for 90 minutes!

We stopped in at the Lego Store to check out the Legos and Ethan wanted to pose next to Darth.

Building Legos.

Ethan fell asleep before we even got out of the parking structure. I would say it was a great day. Jason and I had so much fun with him, and it will hold so many memories for us. We love you Ethan!

My rock star!

2009-12-10T10:35:00.000-08:00

Ethan loves music, but his favorite has to be rock and roll. Whenever he gets a guitar in his hands he rocks out! Jason captured his craziness on film the other day.

In the groove

Check out that face!

Rock it!

Having fun

Yeah!

We will have to invest in music lessons soon!

Ethan

2009-12-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post this cute picture of Ethan with one of his bday presents. I just love that he looks so happy!

Ethan's 4th Birthday Party

2009-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Ethan's birthday last Saturday, the 5th, even though his birthday is tomorrow, the 11th. It seemed a good day to do it. Jason and I started getting the cake ready the night before, which turned out to be a good thing, because we had the wrong kind of pan and pretty much ruined it. We still had time the next morning to go get a pan and more cake mix, and everything turned out great.

Jason starting the cake decorating.

Icing the Imperial Battle Cruiser.

Construction of the cake

Putting on the figures.

Almost done...

Tada! It's Star Wars versus the Super Hero Squad, which is made up of Marvel superheroes.

Ethan opening presents.

Yay! Super Hero Squad!

"Happy Birthday to Me!"

Make a wish!

We had a great time celebrating with our family and some friends. If all goes well, tomorrow we will be a Disneyland celebrating his actual birthday!

A new niece, Charlotte!

2009-12-10T10:13:00.000-08:00

On Dec. 4th. my sister-in-law Hillary delivered a little girl, Charlotte Elisabeth. She is so adorable! Ryan is so sweet with her and everyone is healthy and happy!

Chillin'

Uncle Jason

Aunt Cari

Not the best picture, but she had her eyes open!

Congratulations to Ryan and Hillary on their beautiful baby girl!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-03T14:19:00.000-08:00

We had a full Thanksgiving week. We went to my aunt's house on the Sunday before and had a TON of food. It was really good, and it was nice to hang out with them. Here are some pictures from there.

Ethan snuggled up watching Lilo and Stitch

My cousin Justin eating a turkey leg.

Justin's wife, Ashley, gave Ethan some cocoa crispies and a bowl of water, because he wanted to be a dog.

Justin, Carly and Ethan pretending to be sleeping bunnies.

Ethan giving Carly a kiss.

Ethan wearing a Thanksgiving decoration.

On the actual day of Thanksgiving, we started out the day at my grandma's house. This is just one of the tables we used to seat everyone.

My brother, being himself.

Me, cousin Chelsea and cousin Nicole. I think the last time we were all together was possibly my wedding. We are all 2 months apart from each other in age. Anyways, it was nice getting a picture of all of us.

Poppy, listening to Uncle Bryan talk about something.

Gabe, Amanda, Lauren and Lucas.

Adam, his fiance Morgan, and her mom Dee. They were showing off the pie, which represented the coming together of Boise and Texas...it's a football thing.

After my grandma's, we went over to Jason's sister's house and had dinner there. Here is a picture of Hillary and I. I had to get one of the two of us pregnant together. Hillary is due any day now! Can't wait!

Ethan and Brooke...Ethan lost his pants because they got wet.

Jeannie mixing the gravy

Don carving the turkey

Bart, Aaron and Ryan, relaxing.

Josh with Brooke

Bart's dad, getting ready to attack Don. Don was oblivious and I just thought it was great!

Anyways, that was our Thanksgiving. We had a great time spending so much time, with so much family!

Kids say the darndest things...

2009-11-17T15:27:00.001-08:00

Ethan has been saying some funny things lately. Let's see if I can remember a few:

"Mom, do tools have brains?"

"I don't like being naked....but sometimes, I do!"

"Mom, you should talk to the baby."

"Does the baby have bones and I brain?"

I can't remember anymore right now, but I had to write these down.

24 weeks

2009-11-17T15:15:00.000-08:00

It's time for my 24 week update! Woohoo! That means I'm about 6 months along in this pregnancy. I love being pregnant. True, there are times when I can't stand it, but I really don't have many problems. Some people are sick the whole time, or have to go on bedrest. I am lucky, and the only problem has been my partial placenta previa, which can fix itself, and if it doesn't, then that just mean I get to pick my baby's birthday by having a c-section.

Anyways, as of my last appointment, I was one pound heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight. I know that sounds bad, but I lost about 15 pounds and then gained it back plus one. So, yay! I can still wear some of my regular shirts...just not my pants.

Michael has been moving like crazy in utero. He is pretty much like his big brother...doing flips all the time, and pretty much not letting me forget that he's there. He still isn't quite as active as Ethan was in the womb, but pretty close. I can't wait to see him and meet him for the first time, but I want him to stay inside as long as possible. It's the best thing for him, so I just have some excited patience.

Here are my most recent pregnancy pictues:

Me showing off how happy I am.

Ethan touching my belly. He is super excited to be a big brother.

Ethan giving Michael a kiss!

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this update! My next appointment is the end of this month, in which I get to do the gluclose test...woohoo. Then 2 weeks after that, I should be having my ultrasound to see if the placenta previa is gone. Keep your fingers crossed!

Halloween!

2009-11-01T08:54:00.000-08:00

We have had two fun filled days of Halloween activities and boy am I tired! But it was so much watching Ethan actually "get" Halloween fully for the first time! We started out the festivities on Friday night with a Trunk or Treat at our church. We invited my mom, grandma and aunt, Jason's sister and her girls, and Jason's parents to come and they all showed up. We had a nice little group and it was fun to share the evening with them.

My aunt and Grandma

Part of our car decorations.

Me as the Magnificent Maleficent. So many kids came up to me and squealed "It's Maleficent!" I did not think I would get that reaction. It was totally cool.

My Batman

Jason as Hellboy and Ethan Batman. Jason's costume turned out good. It was part purchased, part homemade.

Our family!

Closeup of Jason

Closeup of me

Hanging out with my grams and aunt.

Our decorated car

Sara's decorated car. The kids are mixed up with the pumpkins

Jason's dad came as a rabbit coming out of a hat.

Jason's Mom as Mary Poppins

Yesterday, we started out Halloween by going to the Canyon Crest Towne Center to see what they had to do. They had a costume contest and trick or treating, with some other stuff. It wasn't that great, but I had always wanted to see what it was about. If it was organized better, it would have been cool but lack of organization always ruins events.

After that we had dinner at my grandma's and then drove to a neighborhood near there called Orangecrest to knock on doors. We have never done that area before, so we didn't know what to expect, but it was great and Ethan ended up with a full bag of candy and he had a blast!

Ethan trying to sing with the singing skeleton at canyon crest.

Posing with pumpkins

Ethan decided he wanted to be a ninja turtle, so we let him. He has a bunch of play costumes at home, so we didn't have to go buy anything new.

Ethan's candy loot. I think we will have to help him eat it! :-)

Anyways, we had a great time, and I wanted to thank Jason's and my family for coming to our trunk or treat. It was so much more fun with you there. Also, thanks mom for coming with us to Canyon Crest, and for taking some of the pictures I posted here. You really got some good ones! Happy Halloween!

Placenta Previa

2009-10-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

I had my normal check up today and my doctor told me that my ultrasound last week showed that I have partial placenta previa. That means that my placenta is partially blocking my cervix. If it doesn't fix itself in the next 6 weeks, then I will probably be scheduled for a c-section. Not that that would happen now, but around the due date. Since mine is partial, it could possibly move out of the way if the growth of my uterus pulls it up. Let's cross our fingers. On the positive side, the baby is just fine. I just have to worry about bleeding. That would be bad. Other than that I'm ok. I also can't do any heavy lifting or cleaning or anything that would put stress on my cervix. I get my ultrasound when I am 28 weeks. If everything looks good, then I can go back to normal.

Anyways, that's my update. I was pretty upset earlier today, but I'm ok now. I'm just trying to not worry about anything until I actually need to worry.

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a pumpkin patch to get a couple pumpkins to carve. It was a church selling pumpkins, so it was nice that it didn't have all those extra bouncy houses and slides and stuff. Just get in, get your pumpkin and get out. Anyways, here are the pictures!

Ethan with a scarecrow

Showing off a white pumpkin

That pumpkin was really heavy for him, so it's a miracle we got him to smile!

Ethan drew the pumpkin face (with a little help from mom)

Taking out the insides...he did not like it.

Finished product!

After Ethan went to bed, Dad had his hand at carving a pumpkin. He did Oogie Boogie from Nightmare Before Christmas.

Ethan's again

On the back of Ethan's, I wrote his name and took a picture with it all lit up. I actually got this picture by putting the camera on my tripod and turning the flash off. The shutter was open for 5-10 seconds and this is what I got. I love it!

Tomorrow we are going to our church's trunk or treat so I should have new pictures from that soon! Happy Halloween!

Baby Boy!

2009-10-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Tonight we found out that we are having a baby boy. I am very excited that Ethan will be able to have a brother to play with! Here are the pictures we got. They are not the greatest but the important thing is that he is healthy and normal. I'm due somewhere between March 4th and March 9th. He weighs about 13 ounces right now. Yay!

Side

Profile

The family jewels

General Update

2009-10-21T13:29:00.001-07:00

So I have finished updating my blog. Whew! Took me awhile, but I did it. A couple small updates on us. I'm sure you noticed Ethan's new haircut in the last blog. Yup, I did that. First time I have ever buzzed anyone's hair and it was the first time Ethan's had a buzz cut. I noticed his hair had been bothering him, and I had the buzzers so I just went for it. He was a real trooper because it took me a little bit to do. I like it because I can see his face more clearly and when he gets animated, it's even more so.

Also, I am about 21 weeks pregnant now. The picture below is my 20 week picture. I was all dressed up for Hillary's baby shower. I wanted to get this updated, because today we get to have an ultrasound to see how everything is looking with the baby and hopefully to find out the sex of the baby. I don't really care what we are having, I just want to know so we can pick out a name and also, I need to know if I have to go through all the clothes that are stored at my mom's or if I get to go register for new, girly things. I hope to have a new blog up tonight afterwards, with ultrasound pictures. The appointment isn't until 6pm, so if it's not up tonight, it will be up tomorrow. That's it for now. Hope everyone else is doing good, and I hope to update soon!

California Adventure!

2009-10-21T12:57:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we went to California Adventure to play. Ethan hasn't riden Soarin' Over California, so we wanted to see if he was big enough, and he was! He loved it! He was going Woohoo! the whole time. We played mostly in that park, and then went over to Disneyland when it closed. We just rode Nightmare Before Christmas over there, because Ethan loves it and then we went home. Here is our day:

Ethan and Jason waiting in line to Soar!

Standing like Daddy

Ethan got to have his picture taken with Lightening McQueen and Mater.

Also a cool airplane.

Then we went to the Bear Adventure area and the boys ran around in there for a bit.

Coming down the slide.

Whee!

Posing as construction Mickey

They don't have one big enough for Dad.

Here's me!

Snuggling with Daddy while waiting for Toy Story Mania

Riding the carousel.

Me and Jason waiting in line for the ferris wheel.

There were some green army men from Toy Story walking around the park doing a cadence. Pretty cool.

The beginning of the Pixar Parade. Here is a float from the movie Up.

Waiting for the rest of the parade.

Monsters Inc.

This is a wet parade...through the whole thing they spray you with water...just a warning for anyone who goes to see it. These guys were the worst, because they had hoses.

The Incredibles

Finding Nemo

A Bug's Life

Toy Story

Cars

After the parade, we went and rode Monster's Inc and then on our way out of the park, we stopped at Candy Corn Acres, because Ethan likes candy corn right now. Here he is trying to sneak a bite.

Happy Halloween!

Hillary's Baby Shower

2009-10-21T12:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my sister-in-law's baby shower. Sara threw it at her house and she did a great job! It was a tea party theme. Sara spent the last 3 months finding a bunch of china and silver.

The tea server.

Sara drew this stork freehand and I think it turned out amazing.

Centerpiece

Centerpiece again.

Sara also made this diaper cake for Hillary

Baby Shower

Decorations.

The table

Lily all dressed up

The party guests.

Jeannie

Brooke having some punch

Hillary and her mom.

Opening her presents.

We are so excited for Ryan and Hillary to be having a little girl, Charlotte Elisabeth, due Dec. 8th.

Grandma's Birthday

2009-10-21T12:36:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my grandma's birthday the weekend after we came back from Tahoe. It was nice having so much family around. My grandma turned 78.

Here is her birthday cake. Ethan helped me mix all the ingredients and then my mom decorated it.

Grandma blew out her candles before we were done singing to her and she thought it was pretty funny.

My brother Adam and his fiance Morgan.

Grandma opening her presents.

My mom and Ethan. He was pretty tired, plus he had sugar. This was the best picture I could get.

Ethan and cousin Carly playing drums.

Poppy and Carly

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Lake Tahoe!

2009-10-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went with Jason's family to their timeshare in Lake Tahoe. We knew it would be cold, but we didn't think there would be as much snow as there was. It ended up melting off, so we had a nice time.

The last pit stop on the way to Tahoe, and there was a little park with some snow, so we let the kids out to play. Ethan doesn't have snow gear, but Sara brought another set for him. There is pink in it, but not too bad. This is Brooke and Ethan playing together.

Jason and his mom.

Posing for Papa.

The 3 current grandkids.

My snow guy.

Papa had fun throwing snowballs at Ethan's butt, and Ethan didn't really seem to mind.

The first morning in our room. Ethan was so excited that it had snowed.

We went to Ihop for breakfast and then for a walk afterwards. It was so pretty seeing all the snow. This was a pattern in the snow and we decided that the sprinklers must have made it, but I think it looks like a flower.

Pretty trees.

Icicles

Frozen flowers.

Taking a break. Ethan loves the snow.

This is where we were staying.

This was our second day in Tahoe and we went for another walk to go find some birds to feed. On the way we found a pretty fountain and we took pictures by it. Papa with the grandkids.

The boys showing their muscles.

We found a walkway down to the beach and Papa took Ethan and Lily down there. It was neat to see the snow on the sand.

Jason's mom and grandma enjoying the view of the lake.

Jason was cold.

My big guy.

Here he is taking a leap.

Feeding the birds. There were a ton of geese just hanging out along the road.

I love this kid!

Later that day, we went to this little amusement park because they had a potato sack slide. It was the best ride they had there. Jeannie, Sara and Jason took the three kids down it. They had a blast.

Ethan and Lily

Ethan was done so Sara got to go solo. Brooke wanted to ride with Jason.

They even let Jason go down head first. He was going pretty fast.

Then the kids rode this tiny ferris wheel. It was so tiny!

Jason and his grandma.

The last full day we were there, we went fishing. We found this pond that was seeded with fish just for little kids to fish. Adults were not aloud to do the fishing, and because of this, it was free, and the kids could catch and take home as many fish as they wanted. We ended up catching 6 rainbow trout, which were cooked up for dinner that night.

This is Sara and Brooke.

Jason and Ethan

My little fisherman.

Lily caught the first fish.

Ethan caught the 2nd fish.

Then Lily caught the rest.... :-)

Papa and Ethan

Reeling in another!

Brooke just liked reeling in the line.

"The Bobber Watchers" Jeannie and Grammy. It wasn't really that cold, but the sun was coming down right on us.

Ethan taking a "snooze"

A chipmunk. There were quite a few and then that's what the kids were interested in. That's when we decided to call it quits. But everyone had fun, which is the important thing.

We headed home the next day. We had a really good time and it was nice going somewhere where it wasn't so hot.

Carnival Extraveganza

2009-10-21T11:23:00.001-07:00

At the end of last month, we celebrated Jason's dad's birthday. And by celebrate, I mean we went all out. Jason's sister had a carnival in her back yard. She and her mom rented a bunch of blow-up stuff and we had cotton candy and all kinds of stuff. Anyways it was a lot of fun. Here are a few of the pictures I took.

The "Big Top"

Sara showing off the sumo suit they got for wrestling.

Everyone watching Sara pose.

Jason and Bart jousting

Bart and Sara

Brooke and Ethan

Ethan on the velcro wall.... It actually didn't stick very well.

Jason's dad with his birthday cake.

Jason's Mom and Dad

Grandpa playing with the kids

Matt and Sara

Jason and Don

Matt and Aaron

Jason and Don....they were both too tired to stand on the pedestals.

Fishing for candy!

It was so much fun, but very crazy. If you do something like this, you gotta celebrate EVERYONE'S birthday at the same time. I'm looking forward to a few more calm celebrations.

Sea Life Aquarium

2009-09-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we decided to go do something as a family. We went to the Sea Life Aquarium in Carlsbad. Ethan had a great time and it wasn't crowded at all because Legoland was closed. (It's right next door). So we got to enjoy it very much.

The front.

They had a slide at the very beginning.

There were a lot of these bubble glasses where you could stick your head in and feel like you were in the tank with the fish. Not the best photos though.

"Touching" and octopus.

A REALLY big lobster.

Shark teeth!

The shark lady telling Ethan about teeth.

There were alot of these window holes too that you could look into. As you can see, perfect Ethan size.

Lego sand castle.

Touching a sea cucumber.

Liking the sea creatures

These fish were very skinny when they turned sideways.

Shark!

A window hole

Colorful fish

What's in the cannon?

Lots of sting/manta rays.

Looking down on the shark/ray tank

Sea horse.

Looking at the Halloween Bandit hermit crab.

Halloween Bandit hermit crab....that's really what it's called.

Touching a starfish

"Ooh, what's that?"

Starfish

I wish my pictures could do the colors more justice.

Pokey starfish

Bubble boys

Red shrimp

Jellyfish

There was a theater where you could watch an ocean film. Jason was pretending to be asleep, and it would get Ethan to look my way so I could take his picture.

Back to touching starfish

Cool starfish

Jason in the tunnel

Looking good!

Ethan's legs hanging out the window hole

Ray and Jason

Tada! Ethan thought this was a stage, so we got a performance.

Sharks

Some new friends of ours...

After the aquarium, I called up Crystal to see if she could have dinner, so we went to Chili's. After that, we took the kids to Boomers! which has a HUGE playplace that the kids can play on. Ethan loves it there. We played for about an hour and then we headed home.

Ethan and Jason

Oh, I forgot. While at the aquarium, I dropped my camera. My really nice camera. I thought I broke it, but it was just the filter on the front. Here is the damage:

Tired boys.

Ethan getting himself dizzy.

Elijah, Ethan, Crystal and Brielle.

We had a really fun day and it was a nice bonus that we got to see some friends too while we were down there.

Jayson and Yvonne got sealed!

2009-09-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

On September 5th, 2009, my friends Jayson and Yvonne Cardon, were sealed For Time and All Eternity in the Redlands California Temple. Woohoo!

I've known Jayson for 10 years, and it has been so great to see him get to this point in his life. He has had a lot of ups and downs, so it was even more special to see him be able to complete this step in his life. Congratulations to Jayson and Yvonne!

BSR Potluck

2009-09-29T12:12:00.000-07:00

Wanna know how long it's been? A long time, because I thought I blogged about the BSR Potluck that we went to, and that was back in August. Whoops! Well, here we go:

Jayson and Yvonne Cardon. Jayson was a freshman when I was a senior, and we have been through alot of crazy stuff together. It's been so cool to see him grow from a goofy freshman into a responsible adult.

Our little group that sat together. Ethan, my mom and my brother Adam. Chris Tobler, Jayson & Yvonne and Paul & Sarah Darr. We had alot of fun watching the new band perform.

Ethan grooving to the music!

A BSR cake made for Mr. Jackson. He was the director when I was in band, then he left and it's his first year back.

Anyways, it was lot of fun to see people I haven't seen in a LONG time. It would have been nice to see some that weren't there, but people move and get lives, and it's not always possible to see each other like this. But it was still a great evening.

Almost 18 weeks

2009-09-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so not the best picture, but this is me at 16 weeks: 4 months preggy.

Thursday I will be 18 weeks in my pregnancy. I have lost weight and that frightens me a little. I have an appointment tomorrow, so we will see what the doctor says. I did weigh myself yesterday and it looks like I put some weight back on, so I hope the doctor's scale says the same thing.

I should be finding out the sex of the baby soon...maybe tomorrow, though that would kind of suck since Jason can't come to the appointment. I just want a new picture and to hear the heartbeat.

I have lower back pain on my left side, and it's gotten worse over that last couple of days. It used to just hurt when I bent down or twisted to get something, but now it hurts even when I am just sitting still. That's on my list to ask tomorrow.

I'm excited about this pregnancy, but I want to be noticable. Right now I don't look pregnant. And it's not that I want attention, it would just make it more real for me. Either that or to feel the baby moving.

I just wanted to share my thoughts at this point. Thanks for listening!

I live!

2009-08-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Although, I am concerned that no one reads this anymore! LOL! But seriously, I reread my last post, and I did warn that I wouldn't be posting if I didn't feel good. Well, I haven't. The thought of turning on my computer and staring at it made me sick.

So, tomorrow is the start of week 12 of my pregnancy. I have a picture of the baby, but it's not in the computer yet. It's on my to-do list. I have been feeling a bit better the last couple of days, although I am still exhausted.

Jason is in Texas this week working for a New Horizons out there, which has made this week all the more exhausting, but I have been doing okay, which makes me feel better....I even got some chores done. Woohoo!

Tomorrow is a potluck at my old high school....it's for the BSR which is the marching band. Alumni is invited to come, and since I played trombone for them for 3 years during high school (which I LOVED!) I am going and taking Ethan, to pass on band geekdom to a new generation! Hooray! ( Can you tell I am tired?)

These are all just quick little updates. I have no pictures either....well, we went to Vegas a few weeks ago, and I have pics from that, but I'm too tired to do that now. Maybe later....See? I haven't felt good....I haven't even picked up my camera in 4 weeks. My friend Crystal was surprised when I came for a playdate and didn't bring it. That thing is usually attached to me. Anyways, I might take it tomorrow.

So good night everyone, and I hope to update more soon. As long as I'm feeling better, chances are looking good!

3-4-10

2009-07-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't notice our main picture up there at the top, we would like to announce that we are expecting our second child, due March 4th, 2010. That due date could change, since I am just 7 week along. Ethan's due date changed 3 times and he was still late so who knows!

Anyways, we are very excited to add this addition to our family. I am excited to document this pregnancy through my blog, since I didn't have it the first time. And if there isn't a blog for awhile, then you know that I'm not feeling very well!