These are the days

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Back-up Bear

Jake found and purchaased this on eBay yesterday. Thank goodness because I don't know how much life there is for a bear that is as loved as this one.

Jonathan has become so attached to Camper and we have been so scared that something will happen to him. Finally, we have a just-in-case replacement should something happen to Camper.

 

Hopefully, the back-up Camper can just stay put away and we'll never need him.

Daybook for 11 December

For Friday, December 11, 2009

Outside my window...

It's already dark and I'm hearing the noise of after-work traffic.

I am thinking...

About how much I love Christmas and hoping my children are making happy memories to look back on.

I am thankful for...

The ability to do my Christmas shopping online and have packages delivered to my doorstep in nondescript cardboard boxes.

From the learning rooms...

Lots of Advent and Christmas-themed picture books. We're also reading "The Miracle on 34th Street." Elizabeth is memorizing "The Night Before Christmas." 

From the kitchen...

It smells like I need to take out the trash.

I am wearing...

My favorite sweater. It has wide pink and white stripes, a hood and drawstring, and is a zip-up. I'm also wearing old jeans and boring white socks.

I am creating...

Something to help me organize, by month, the lists of things we do (or should do) every year. This includes fun traditions and practical things like doing a credit check and changing smoke alarm batteries.

I am going...

To wing it for dinner.

I am reading...

Miracle on 34th Street

I am hoping...

That Jake will make it home on Dec 22 as planned.

I am hearing...

The Polar Express on TV and Colette sucking her fingers.

Around the house...

Books, lots of books, pictures that haven't been hung on walls,  and a few boxes of Christmas decorations I've yet to unpack.

One of my favorite things.

Cold weather and coming into a warm house after being cold outside

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Elizabeth's soccer game on Saturday. 

Here is picture thought I am sharing (first video taken with our new Flip video thingy)...

Colette this week...

Is close to crawling. I set her on her bottom but she manages to scoot around a bit. She had peas for the first time yesterday and liked them. She also sings like a bird.

Thanks to Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for the format of this blog post.

Daybook

For Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Outside my window...

The sun is shining bright but there are raindrops dripping from the roof after an afternoon shower.

I am thinking...

About how I kind of miss blogging. After Elizabeth was born I blogged weekly. After Jonathan I blogged monthly. Poor Colette. She's in her second season and I still haven't made a post.

I am thankful for...

Swimming pool access this summer. It's so hot.

From the learning rooms...

We're getting ready to start lessons next Monday. I'm setting up our workboxes and shopping for last minute supplies.

From the kitchen...

Hmmm... Haven't spent much time in there lately. I need to make a grocery list.

I am wearing...

A bright pink T-shirt that's probably too tight for a nursing mama (but we're just at home), kacki shorts that my mom gave me, bare feet, and a hair clip.

I am creating...

A daily routine for after we begin lessons.

I am going...

...to give the kids baths. All of them.

I am reading...

"Hints on Child Training" by H. Clay Trumbell. I've barely started it but it seems promising.

I am hoping...

...for a phone call from a real estate agent telling me my lease application is accepted and the lease on a new house is being drawn up. Oh, did I mention we're making a local move?

I am hearing...

Elizabeth and Jonathan very noisily cleaning the boy's room.

Around the house...

...folded laundry to be put away, and lots of little pretend money coins.

One of my favorite things...

...milky white baby thighs.

A few plans for the rest of the week:

Make a doctor's appointment for Elizabeth, put away the laundry, work on our morning routine, pray for a few families that have recently lost a child, go to the pool.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Colette this week...

Is starting to take a regular morning nap. Yay! I'm still trying to figure out tricks for other sleep times. Also, she went into the pool for the first time today. My cousin Courtney took this picture this morning.

Thanks to Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for the format of this blog post.

Testing

Testing to see if I can do this from my iPod.

April Fool's Baby?

Hello! We are getting very close to the day when our new baby will be born. Last week the doctors scheduled my induction for  the morning of April 1st. That's just over a week! Jake took an extra day off this weekend and we have been trying to get a lot done so our last week of waiting can be as easy as possible. Actually, that's my plan, but Jake is happy to go along with it. He'll be busy working the air show at MacDill this coming weekend so whatever needs doing needs to happen before then. And who knows, the baby could decide to come sooner!

 

Can you see her little face lying sideways here? The ultrasound tech told me it's hard to get a clear picture of babies once they're big. She told me that our baby was about 6 lbs 9 oz when this US was done last week. Babies usually grow about 0.5 lb per week at this point so it's a good guess to say she'll be about 7.5 lbs next week when we are thinking she'll be born. It kind of looks like she's holding up her left hand to sign an "L," but I'm thinking, probably not.

Elizabeth and Jonathan are doing great. I've posted a video of  Elizabeth playing the piano. Isn't she just so cute and grown up? She is doing such a great job with it.

I have noticed lately that Jonathan has really changed a lot in the past few months. He used to be quiet and didn't talk much to people outside of our family. He has become so friendly and talkative lately. I'm so happy to see that naturally develop for him. Jonathan will be turning four before long. 

I'd like to do some reading tonight but I wanted to be sure and let you know that we're expecting to have this baby girl no later than next Wednesday or Thursday. 

Thanks for visiting! 

You have no idea how much fun one small ridiculous boy can have with a measuring tape...

A self-portrait by the baby-mama...

Since our scanner is on the fritz, we have to take pictures of the ultrasound pics and post these instead.  It's not the greatest way to go about things, but you can see baby girl's face quite clearly here...

Jonathan had a blast making valentines for his family and cousins.  It was guessed that he would spend 5-10 minutes on the project.  An hour later...

Arts and crafts time also extended to making goodies -- these Hugs found their way onto pretzels after being slightly melted and crowned with an M&M... awesome...

Here we are at the beach on Honeymoon Island, about to be terrorized by the world's biggest seagull (creeping into the frame on the right).  Those punk gulls almost made off with Jordan's meatball sub and were an ever-threatening presence throughout lunch...

Little dude managed to get himself completely soaked while not wearing a swimsuit.  As you would expect...

Not sure what she's pointing at here, but she looks adorable.

Finally, the (not-at-all ceremonial) Valentine's Day pinata!  We originally hoped to have it finished in time for Elizabeth's birthday, but this worked better than a President's Day pinata...

_____________________________________________________________

Jake added captions to our pictures above. : -)

Hello! February has been a fun month for us and we've made lots of local outings and have been busy around the house doing little odds and ends. I have been going through our stash of baby clothes, picking out curtains for the kids' rooms, and we have the garage almost cleared out enough to park a vehicle in there. 

Elizabeth and Jonathan are doing great. I find myself repeating their ages in my head, as if I'm introducing them to someone, and I can hardly believe they're getting so big. Jonathan is almost FOUR!

I'm going to the doctor once a week now and having a test done at each one so the doctors can see that the baby is moving around and that her heart is beating at the right speed. I had an ultrasound last week and Elizabeth and Jonathan were there to see the baby on screen, too. The ultrasound technician told me that the baby was 3 lb 15 oz and at the 30th percentile in her size for her age. She estimated that Baby Girl will weigh about 7 lbs at birth, though I'm not sure if that takes into account that she will likely be born at 39 weeks instead of 40. The baby is supposed to grow 0.5 lb/week from here on out (I'm supposed to gain 1.0 lb/week). She told me that the baby has "her fair share of hair," which we find funny and cute. Elizabeth had very little hair at birth and Jonathan had some dark hair, but not that much. I wonder if Baby Girl will have just a whole bunch of it.  I may have to find some kind of cute little baby hair bow for her to wear in the hospital. She was also head-up, but nobody is concerned and she has lots of time to turn around.

Not too much new is going on. We hope you all are well.

Pictures from Elizabeth's birthday and a few others

Elizabeth's birthday...

The night before, Courtney's family came over to share Elizabeth's birthday dinner with us. Here are Elizabeth, Hannah & Zoe. We had such a fun evening.

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

We had been saving our first trip to Busch Gardens for Elizabeth's birthday. Here she is with a chimpanzee.

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

Oooooh, but then the rain came...and came.

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

The rain wouln't stop so we went home to play and open presents. 

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

Here's a photo of my belly at just over 31 weeks.

From 2009 1 (Jan - Mar)

Six days later (today), we went back to Busch Gardens to enjoy the park without the rain and while the rides were open. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to going back.

The following two pictures were taken a few weeks ago at the Florida Aquarium.

 

Here's a silly girl I found at McDonald's.

Thanks for visiting and looking at our backlog of photos.

Elizabeth's Birthday --- by Elizabeth

"Today I am turning six. Would you like to come along with my day? If you do, come along...

"Okay, let's go...

"This morning I got up and said, 'I'm six years old today.' So I went to my mama and daddy and told my mama that today was my birthday. My dad took me and my brother to the grocery store and got a birthday cake. I was allowed to pick it out. I picked a yellow cake with white icing. We took it home and ate it for breakfast. We ate the cake and my family sang me 'Happy Birthday.' Then I opened two presents.

"We went to Busch Gardens. It started to rain. We put on our coats and looked at some animals and went on a train. We walked along and saw many other animals. Then we went to go get lunch. We saw a show after lunch. There was music and palm trees and it was nighttime and there were lots of people dancing on the stage. They were all grownups. Then we went up from lunch and we went on a merry-go-round. Then we couldn't ride the cars that went in the water [the River Rapids ride], so we just went home because it was raining. And then we came home and changed our pants and we came to the living room. We opened our presents. We opened my Legos and my checkers and my flipflops and my towel and my bathing suit, and my Nemo sticker book, and my thumb print book. I got a movie. It was Disney's Sleeping Beauty. I got Harry and the Lady Next Door. I got Sheep in a Jeep. I got I'm a Manatee and The Three Little Kittens.

"At Busch Gardens, we saw a gorilla. They were really cool. They are my favorite animal at Busch Gardens. They can stand on their back legs and walk like a human because they did not like the wet grass. They made their beds out of leaves, twigs, and sticks. They don't climb trees because they can't do it because they're not like a chimpanzee. One of the gorillas had a birthday today and that made sense to me because it was my birthday and I was turning six.

"The chimpanzees were very funny. They only walked on their hands and most of them hid in their hut because it was raining and they didn't like the rain. I loved my presents at home. I just couldn't stop thinking about Busch Gardens anyway because we had so much fun. The tigers were fun, too. I had so much fun at home and now my living room is trashed with wrapping paper and present bags. Now my mom is typing this all on the computer while I'm upside with my legs on the couch sticking up a little bit and my head on the floor.

"The end."

A sad note...

Jake's cousin Brent was killed in a motorcycle accident this past weekend.  He was only 25 years old.

Please keep Brent and the rest of the extended Stadts family in your prayers.