Kindergarten here we come!

Today Haley started kindergarten! I can't believe she is that old! She was so excited!!! She had a blast!

Haley is in the same class as her good friend Gracie!This is her with her teacher, Mrs. Gilfrey! Hunter had his first day of preschool today! Jim and I were both nervous as to how he would handle going there without us staying. He cries when we drop him off at church. When we dropped him off, his teacher was so great... she came right up to him and made him so welcomed! She found him a tool puzzle to work on and he was in Heaven!

And I have to include a picture of Jonah! He is doing so good. Both Haley and Hunter are transitioning so well with him! They love him ...

Can you believe his hair? I guess Carrie was right... heart burn does = hair :)

Ahoy Jonah!

and two very happy older siblings!

The third pregnancy!

Warning... this is me on my soap box about pregnancy.... It is not graphic but it is a bit of a ramble session...

Well... as most of you should know... I am still at home, bigger than ever. Today I am 38 weeks. Normal for most women to be home at this stage in pregnancy. For me, this is new territory. Both Haley and Hunter came at the beginning of my 37th week. This pregnancy has been the most different. I have heard that the 3rd pregnancy is different than the first two. Now I believe it. Here is a short list of things that I experienced that is DIFFERENT than with Haley and Hunter's pregnancy...
1. I have had labor contractions (more intense than the braxton hicks) for almost a month now. They are sometimes consistent, and sometimes they come once an hour. This makes it hard when deciding if you go into the hospital or not. I think those of you who have your water break have it good... you know when to go in to the hospital and when they are finally coming... with contractions... you could have them for a month and they mean nothing...
2. I had heart burn with both, but this one takes the cake!!! I have some really gross heart burn stories that I wont share and gross you all out with, but it was (I am not having it now) gross. My friend Carrie, tells me that heartburn during pregnancy has some link to if the baby has hair (she read it somewhere) if this is true, Jonah will need a hair cut when he gets out!!!
3. Breathing treatments... This pregnancy I have had to go receive a breathing treatment twice. I had a hard time with Asthma. Did you know you could get asthma as an adult?
4. NO STRETCH MARKS! Well, I still have the faded ones from Haley and Hunter... this time - no flames of glory! This is a nice change :)
5. I made it to 38 weeks.

You know.. there are more, but they aren't really for the world to see :) and I don't think they would be appropriate to put on a blog... :)

One more thing I would like to vent...
I think that nurses and Doctors shouldn't give false hope. I have been told by one of my doctors that I will most likely have this baby at 37 weeks... every week I go into the OB, the doctor or nurse I see gives me the false hope that it is any day now!!! (this has been two weeks now - starting at 36 weeks)

As you can see by my ticker thing, I have 14 more days til my due date... I am fine with that... the only concerns I have is that Haley starts kinder in 11 days and with that comes orientation and getting ready... I don't want to miss out on any of those memories.... Hunter TOO, starts his first year in preschool on the same day! I want to at least not be in labor on the days of orientation and the first day of school... after or before, fine... but on the day, please Lord no :)

Haley was early and weighed in at 8'4"
Hunter was 7'2" (early)
Will Jonah be bigger??? He is in there longer than the other kids were.... OUCH!

AND I would like to end with...
I am feeling good. I am not too uncomfortable ... would I like Jonah out? Sure, but being that this is our last baby, I am ok. As long as I don't have the false labor. I know he will be here shortly REGARDLESS... and once he comes I get sleepless nights, and all that jazz... I really want to enjoy this last pregnancy as much as possible savoring all his movements and all that...

Pregnancy poll for all you moms out there...
- Were you late or early (giving birth) with your children?
- Did your water break or did you have contractions that sent you into the hospital?

Jim's 8 Random Facts AND 7 Random Pictures

Jimmy’s 8 Random Facts

As written by Stef :) - he gave me the facts though!

1. He only drinks water…. THAT IS IT!!! Nothing else… no soda, no beer, no milk, no juice… JUST WATER! People have the hardest time understanding that he ONLY drinks water…
2. Has only been arrested once. That is all he wants me to write :) ... it is true though!
   
3. Before he worked for First American Title, Jimmy was a model/actor. He actually was an extra on a few shows and even was an extra on an independent film. Have you ever heard of the TV show Big Bad Beetle Borges? (I hadn't) :)
4. Despite his quiet demeanor, is not shy at all.
5. He has beaten Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson’s punch out… Isn’t he cool?
6. Was a (and still is) a Boston Red Sox fan BEFORE they won the World Series…
7. Likes the Three Stooges… Stef hates this fact! When he gets together with his brothers, they could sit all day and watch The Three Stooges.
8. Had a crush on his 6^th grade teacher … Stef then taught with this teacher when she went to Heritage Intermediate School.

Random pictures:

This is from over a year ago, maybe almost two! Jake, Nate and HunterThis was taken today! Hunter, Jake and Nate

My Aunt Shellie and I... I am nine months preggo! Hunter and Nate with cool colored hair!

This is a really cute one of Jane with her oldest son, Nate!

Today at church... Jake (almost 3), Hunter (3), Isabel (3), and Nate (2 1/2)...

Len and Jenna's Wedding

The Bride with her Matron of Honor :)

Jenna and StefChristine (bridesmaid) and me :)

Our family :) Hunter wasn't all to into getting his picture taken.

This picture is very dark... it was kinda hard to rely on other people to take pictures for you. This picture was taken by some guy who wasn't in it... so I had to hope he took a good one... lets hope it comes out better when I pick it up from Costco. I still need to learn photo shop...

Jenna and Len with their nieces and nephews and then below is Jimmy with Haley wearing his hat... it is a little hard to see.
Susan, David and Mikaela. Mikaela dress-up up because she was reciting poems.
Before the wedding started... guests arrived at 6pm. There was all you could drink Mint Julieps and fresh fruit. Guest were assigned a table number... The WHOLE bridal party (including bride and groom) mingled with the crowd as they arrived. There were a lot of people who dressed up. If you came dressed up, you got either a chocolate cigar or a little hand bag.
Warning... there are a lot of words I don't know the spelling of and my spell check doesn't either... AND I am 9months pregnant and lazy and am not getting up to look them up... so I am spelling them as phonetically as I can!

A far away picture of the ceremony/production. How it started (the ceremony) was... The curtain was down (or the puff - as they called it) and the grandmothers were already in their seat on stage. Then the puff went up and the bridal party came out one by one starting with a bridesmaid then a groomsmen and so forth. When we (the bridal party) walked out, we were to walk to the front and do a bow or curtsy then walk to our spot on stage (I was on stage right). Once the bridal party was all out there, Len walked in escorted by both parents. They kissed him at the bottom of the stage and then the parents walked up to the stage and stood with Len's grandma (Ruth - Helen's mom). Len waited and the bottom for his bride. Jenna came in escorted by both her parents (same still as Len) and then once the parents were up with her grandmother, Len and Jenna came up together to center stage where the officiant was waiting for them. They both had only one living grandmother so they were apart of the ceremony. During the ceremony, the fathers both said a prayer... one in Hebrew (Jenna's dad) and Bud (Len's dad) said the Lord's prayer. They both had signed a Ketuba (sp?) which is a Jewish Marriage contract... the mothers read that as part of the ceremony. They smashed the wine glass :) and then everyone shouted Mozeltov (sp?).After the ceremony was the toasts by both best man (kirk) and matron of honor (me). Then we had dinner... then there was the entertainment. They had asked friends to perform for them. There was a poem read by Mikaela and the rest were songs... Kirk did some drama performance deal thing... there was an opera song....

This is the best man with Jim's folks :)

The dessert was my FAVORITE part... sorry Jenna, I am pregnant :) It was a chocolate brownie, with smooth chocolate sauce on, then HOMEMADE vanilla ice cream, toped with hard chocolate sauce with strawberries all around... YUMMY!!!!! Jimmy and Chris dance with their mom!

This isn't the most flattering picture of me... buy really... I don't think I could have a flattering picture of me with this dress :) (Sorry Jenna, it is just the nature of this dress combined with being VERY pregnant).. But this is Jimmy and I "dancing" - which means, Jimmy danced and I stood next to him on the dance floor :) while he held my hand :)

Things...

Hunter and Haley both stuffed their shirts with their Jonah's.

Haley took this picture of me and Hunter.

Chenoa and I at our house... Sisters -n- Law

Haley and Shelby... Cousins!!! Haley almost 5 and Shelby age 6. Shelby had a little too much fun in the swimming pool the day before. This Picture and the next is from the rehearsal lunch, Saturday. The wedding was Monday- July 30. Those pictures to come....

Brother's Chris and Jimmy

WWF aka VBS week!

WWF (Wacky Week of Fun) aka VBS started on Monday! The kids are having a blast. It is from 930 - 130 Monday- Friday!

This is Hunter's first year! He has a lot of fun, but he does get worn out and tired. He takes a good nap for me when we get home! His team is the Teal (which looks blue to me) tadpoles. There are 30 kids on average in Hunter's class alone! Jessica... you need a medal for taking on these kids for the whole week!

Haley is on the Purple Lobsters. This is her second year at VBS. She is REALLY having the most fun out of the two of them! She gets home and talks about it constantly!!!


For the water games on Wednesday, Hunter and Haley were complete opposites! When the leaders went to squirt the kids with water (which probably wasn't the greatest of ideas) most of the kids ran away screaming... Haley cried... Hunter got right to the front as if to say, "bring it on"

There are over 200 hundred kids at WWF this year! Last year I was in charge of the food... mostly there was 150 kids... i think our top day last year was 200.. but this year we started the week off with 216!

Today I went to visit Jenn, a friend of mine who just had a baby a week ago. She has a son Hunter's age and so does Jane. The three boys have a lot of fun playing together. I have a cute picture of the three boys, Hunter, Jake and Nate right after Nate was born. (If I knew how to scan I would scan the photo). Jane just had her second son, Zach and Jenn just had Luke... all we are waiting for now is for my second son, Jonah.

Jenn is moving in August and I wanted to get a picture of Zach, Luke and Jonah.. so I took one, Jonah still in belly :)

8 Random Facts about Stef

Apparently there's a new "phenomenom" in the blogging realm. It's called a "MeMe."

The Meme Rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Random Fact one: I have problems with blending words together. For example... I once told a friend that I had to use the breastroom (b-bathroom, restroom...) another one... I told a 7th grade student of mine to hand over his playboy (play station/game boy)... the worst one... I was trying to tell my students to quiet down by using fun words like ruckus and fus... I mixed those two words up to get a pretty colorful word... and instead of catching on to my mistake, I said it a total of 14 times before the RSP teacher in the room stopped laughing and decided to help me out with my mistake. (I had a sweet student count how may times I said it). Hey, I got them to quiet down!

Random fact two: I HAVE to read a book before I go to sleep. It could be 2am and I have to get up at 7am I will still read before I turn the light out. Jim loves this fact of mine :)...

Random fact three: I like feet. Yes, some of you who have known me a while know this.

Random fact four: I can memorize phone numbers REALLY EASY (like after dialing once or twice).. I can remember birth dates too.... but remember someones name I have met three or four times... forget it!

Random fact five: In the 7th grade I was VERY CLOSE to being suspended for drug use and drinking on campus. To make this a short fact, there were two girls at the school in my grade, with the same EXACT first and last name... she did these things and I got sent to the principals office. I was told I couldn't talk (apparently I had a habit of talking back to teachers - again, not really me.. the other girl) so I had to sit there and listen to the principal tell me how bad I was and all the things I did and what he planned to do with me. Finally, he asked, "What do you have to say for yourself..." expecting an apology, I simply said, "My middle name is Joy... not Ann." Very shortly after, I got Vineyard student of the month... coincidence???

Random fact six: I had tongue surgery when I was in the 6th grade. My advice... if your child is born tongue tied, get their tongue clipped at birth rather then wait till 6th grade. It is a much bigger surgery the older you are! A swollen tongue is FUN at the age of 11.

Random fact seven: Mindi Gee (now Houghton) taught me how to ride a 2 wheel bike.

Random fact eight: Flying bugs scare the poo out of me!!! I will scream like a little girl if ever taken off guard by a bug. Sadly, it is true... I have tried working on it... but when they surprise me out of the blue I can't help it!

The 8 people I tagged...
1. Erin ... Would the freak at the gas station be on your list???? GO AROUND ME .. HA! I just remembered that, I should have wrote it... dang it :)
2. Jimmy (Which yes would appear on this blog).. tell them how you scratch your ear...
3. Leah... you always are so open with things going on
4. Leah and Dan ... I would love to hear some new dirt on you guys :)
5. Kelly... I would be interested if your first date with Sam would be on your list.
6. Megan ... Just trying to get you bloggin again!
7. Mom... Same as Megan...
8. Anyone else... this was fun so join in!

Hunter's 3 year old photos

Ok, so it took me a month and a half to get my son's three year old photo's done. I decided to take them myself... one, to save money :) and two because Megan (my photo friend) gave me some great tips and even took some! He is so active :) that I really needed to follow him around and get a shot when he was ready and not settle for a fake smile.

Nate and Hunt man. Good buddies!

I love this picture... I know he isn't smiling, but he is a doll! If I knew how to scan a picture out of a scrapbook of me at that age, you would see that I would make the same faces.

Haley's family picture

It has been awhile...

We have had father's day.... A BBQ at our house! How many guys does it take to BBQ?

Helen's 63rd b-day! We went to Steer n Stein.

Hunter art. I went to Georgia for five days (I had a blast!) anyways... before I went Hunter and Haley drew me pictures to remember them by... Hunter is just learning how to draw people... i think it is awesome! The blue above my eyes in the picture - thats my mouth... he told me he wanted my mouth on the top of my head. Haley's turned out precious, just the picture of it didn't turn out.
I have been struggling with heartburn like you wouldn't believe. I wake up in the morning with it... explain that? I have lost weight... 4 lbs in two weeks. My doctor put my on a diet :) pretty much everything they told me not to eat, that's what I live on... so I am learning to eat new things :) Jim took me to dinner after my doctors appointment. We had a blast with the kids... which is actually rare for going out to eat.
My Australian relatives come home for good in little over a week. July 20th! How exciting!! We did really good on our yard sale we had for them! Praise God!