The Jaegers....

Coming up for air

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Gymnastics on Monday
Soccer practice on Wednesday, game on Saturday
Gym AM workouts Monday-Saturday
Running in the evenings
+
6 week "Shape of the coast" contest (biggest loser style) which includes trainer workouts every Monday and Wednesday
Church on Sundays

Then add a nursing (almost 5 month old) cute baby and a VERY active 3 year old.

Yep, we have officially entered chaos that is family life.

And I wouldn't want it any other way.

***I still need to blog about Emmers Birthday, Christmas, our Phoenix trip, Holly's visit, and gee, the last 3 months of Charlee's life!

Maybe sometime this year I'll do it.

Happier things

2012-01-06T20:23:00.001-08:00

Like starting a new year

&

Remembering that one year ago today, we found out our little Charlee was on her way

&

Talking wedding plans for Holly & her lucky guy

&

Ordering Emme's FIRST jersey for her very first team, the Kings.

yes,

Happy things like being able to call myself a "soccer mom", ought to be just enough to blow the rest of the tramatic-fall-stink right off!

How a second could have changed everything

2012-01-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Being a Parent is full of it's good and bad moments.
Most of the time, those bad moments make you appreciate those good times even more.

With that said, something happened yesterday. A bad, scary, moment.

It was Holly's last day visiting with me and the girls before she headed home to Utah. We watched a movie while the girls took their naps. About half way through, I went to go get Charlee for her next feeding.

******
After I retrieved her from the bassinet, I started to descend from the top stair, just then, I lost my footing and less than a second later, I found myself in pain lying flat on my back with my sweet 4 month old Charlee crying in my arms.
Just that fast.

911 was called almost as immediately as it happened.

My Mother instincts kicked in full throttle.

Eric was called.
Emme was taken back upstairs after she awoke from her nap from the commotion.
Holly was on the phone with dispatch.
I was keeping Charlee still in my arms until they arrived.
All while trying to remember all that happened in that split.second.

How hard was the fall?
Did she hit her head in the spot that I thought I saw?
Did I support her neck so not to have whip lash?
Did she hurt anything else in that DAMN fall???
Is . she . okay?

Paramedics arrived in 13 minutes.
Charlee was assessed and questions were asked.
I told them my concerns and all the detail I could remember.

******

Charlee calmed down and even started to smile before that last paramedic left.
Putting to rest everyone's fears.
They told me to monitor her for any behavior out of the normal.
I was informed with signs of swelling.
They also told me to wake her every couple hours.

Eric ran through the front door right before the last cop left.
He consoled both Charlee and myself just in time. I allowed myself to release after the last person left.

The most important part?

Charlee would be fine.

Mama on the other hand, well, that's another story.
I felt ill the entire day.

I was left to remember and replay that horrible moment that lead to horrible thoughts of "what could have happened" to put me in a coma like mood.

That fall scared me stupid.
The following "could be's" left me in sorrow.

******

I woke up very sore.
The exact spots I landed on the stairs, are screaming this morning. Mom was left with rug-burns, bruises, and a dismal heart.

Charlee woke up her joyfully common, baby-self.
Definitely not out of her norm.
Not so much as a bump or bruise on her.

I could not wait to kneel and thank my Heavenly Father for watching over my baby and avoiding a potential devastating outcome.

******

Like I said, it's those bad moments that make you SO eternally grateful for the healthy child and life you have.

Not saying at. all. that I welcome them though.

I could go my whole life without experience a moment like that again and it still would be too soon.

Happy Birthday

2011-12-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

My life changed forever 3 years ago.

I was given the miraculous gift of being a Mother.

I was entrusted with being a parent to this little girl.

Although, "little" does not describe anything other than her stature.

Her remarkable spirit, has always been bigger than her limited body.

Her gratefulness for things, expressed through sweet her demeanor, giant hugs and ear to ear grins, make you feel like one proud Mom and sometimes, even a perfect Mom.

Her belly laughs, silly jokes, dancing, and singing still stop me in my tracks. I am her biggest fan. She captivates me.

She is a better sister than I prayed for her to be.

She includes only a select few people in her prayers every night. Charlee is generally always the first to be prayed for.

She gives me something new to think about daily, even when sometimes I don't particularly feel like learning that day. I am most thankful for those "pop quiz" lessons. It makes me a better Mom. I become a better person. Many times I have failed, and pray for a new day to bring a "do-over" so I can have another chance to get it right and do better. Admiringly, she is also a very forgiving person.

She is, beyond argument, beautifully gifted in every.single.way

And she is only 3.

My sweet little Emme blesses us all more than words can say. I feel so deeply honored that God has entrusted our family with a child as exceptional as her.

I love you, Emmelyn Deborah. With all of me. I do.

Mommy

Memory preservation

2011-12-16T07:28:00.001-08:00

I would never forgive myself if I didn't write this down.

Let me start off with some history:

Emme has wowed me with how wonderfully she has taken on the "Big Sister" role.
She is a natural and is always looking for ways to help Mama with her Sissy.

Then there is Charlee.
What an exceptional little baby.
She is SUCH a joy to have in this family.
She happily "goes with the flow" and is so content.
On crazy days, where it seems everything is happening at once, she doesn't mind just relaxing and chilling in the bouncer watching Mama run around like crazy. I guess it may be entertaining to her, who knows : ) Sometimes she hasn't been held longer than I would like, but she seems not to mind. Which absolutely blows me away.

Although, there is something that she does not like. Driving in the car at night.
If she is wide awake, she usually is pretty fussy on that drive. And the only cure is pulling into the garage. But there is another way.

Emme will use her sweet little voice and sing to her. I get such pleasure singing to my babies. It is something that is so special to me. So to have my oldest know the importance and the power of song, does my heart good.

Emme's favorite song to sing is " I am a child of God".
It is the sweetest thing to hear her try to console Charlee while she is being fussy in her car seat.

And I thought that was the sweetest thing she has done.

So something happened the other afternoon.
Something that I never ever ever ever want to forget.
Times when they are fighting and bickering, I will bring this story up to try and show them the sister love they "once" had.

I had just put Emme down for her afternoon nap.
About half and hour into her snoozing away, I attempted to rock Charlee to sleep.
She wasn't having it and started to be fussy.
Fussy turned into some pretty heavy crying.

Just at that moment of consoling the crying, I heard the most beautiful thing ever.
Emme started to sing "I am a child of God" from in her room.
She sang 2 verses and in that time, we were able to get Charlee to stop and fall asleep.
Emme finished her beautiful song, then it was silent.
She went back to sleep for the rest of the 2 hours.

Something about that touched me to the core.
It was the purest act of concern I have ever witnessed Emme do.

She woke up, sang to her Sister from in her room, then went back to sleep after the crying stopped.

What a sweet spirit she has.
What an awesome child I was given.

Merry Christmas, Liz!

2011-12-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my very thoughtful, VERY sneaky, VERY loving Husband???

AND he gets extra brownies for letting me open it early ; )

Oh, and the "Suri" feature? Amazingly. ridiculous.

Florida Family Vacation

2011-12-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

I bet some of you are wondering what's been up??

To sum it up-
I've been making some pretty amazing memories with my family.

We just got back from a week long trip to Orlando where in it, we spent 4 days at Disney World, a day at Sea World, all while staying at the most beautiful timeshare my WONDERFUL in-laws so generously let us use. We have told them time and again, we wouldn't have been able to fully enjoy and let loose on that trip if we didn't have such a HUGE expense waived. For that we are blessed. For that I am so grateful for Parents like Eric's. I hope they understand that loud and clear.

Let me start by saying that I have a full. blown. family now. This is more than likely it for us. So, it was nice to see how we work as a new family of four. What better way to test that than by going to Disney, right?!
We had plenty of opportunities throughout to do just that. We were determined to not let one.thing. keep us from having the time of our lives. With that attitude, we avoided all unnecessary bickering and just had a freggin blast. We discovered a new found respect for one another and for our girls. We found confidence needed to run a family of four. Yes, Sir! We rocked.

Although.
Although, I did forget to mention the tram.
The Tram gets you from the parking lot to the front gates of Disney. That was an experience. Getting on and off the ONLY thing NOT family friendly in the entire trip was CRUEL! Unloading and folding 2 strollers and loading 2 kids and yourself while trying to hold all the belongings you need that day (camera case, 2 backpacks, sweaters, baby carrier, and Minnie Mouse ears) all in about a minute was...difficult. After the first couple times we got the grove of it and after the 4th or 5th time though, we OWNED it : )
In the end though, we all worked together as a Kick-A team. We each played pretty important parts. Yes, even the girls. Em's job was to try not to get hit by parking lot traffic while mom and dad loaded up the tram. And Charlee's was to keep being her happy, perfect, content self. If you added a crying cranky baby to that already crazy stressful mix, I think that could have been the deal breaker for me.
But again, we rocked.

So now we made it to the park. Everyone and everything is loaded back up and ready for our first day of fun at Magic Kingdom! And FUN it was. Emmers wore a per-ma-grin all day. She quickly learned that Fantasyland was toddler Heaven and the rides it held were squeal worthy each and every time. She had a hard time at first about the waiting her turn in line thing, but what kid wouldn't?? Lots of snacks and Daddy tickles saved that from turning disastrous.

We bought a 4 day park hopper pass and we chose to only go to 2 of the 4 parks. Magic Kingdom was the main stay. We also checked out Hollywood Studios for a day and saw some cute Disney shows where Emme was able to meet her hero, Jake from "Jake and the Never Land Pirates".

Emme was able to ride on a lot of rides.
The Carousel was her favorite. We rode that 3 times
Small world 2 times
Snow White and the Scary Adventures 3 times
Peter Pan's Flight 3 times
Autopia 2 times
Tomorrowland's Rockets once with just Daddy
Dumbo 2 times
Tea Cups 2 times
Pirates of the Carribean 3 times (loved it, too)
Haunted Mansion (she did well. surprised us that she wasn't scared)
Jungle Book Cruise
Aladin's magic carpet ride
Tiki room
Swiss family tree house

We watched 4 different parades and 3 shows.
Best part is, Charlee was able to go along on most of those rides, too!

We have heard that the best time to go to Disney was the period of time after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. We did just that. It was magical!

To say I love this time of year, is the understatement of the year.
It has brought such happiness to my life ever since I was a child. Now that I have children of my own, it makes it even that much more exciting!

The parks were decorated SO beautifully and Sleeping Beauty's Castle was absolutely breathtaking when it was lite at night.

Enough talking. Here is the proof:

Orlando's Marriott Grande Vista

At the end of a long day of walking, this spa tub was enjoyed by all the family :)

Found a yummy Hibachi restaurant nearby

Thanks to "Salute to the troops" program Sea World offered, we spent a day free of charge!
The weather called for rain later in the day, so we enjoyed playing until mid afternoon with practically NO ONE in the park. It was wonderful!!

Everything looks better with Christmas decorations

They had an area in the park dedicated to kids Emme's age. It had about 6 rides and a huge play area. Em's was able to ride all the rides AND her FIRST roller coaster! You can't even see her in the seat next to Daddy :)

What an amazing creature

I really can't say enough about how good Charlee did the ENTIRE trip. She is such a blessing.

Disney's Hollywood Studio's

: )

Honey I shrunk the kids play area. It was really cool.

*Magic Kingdom*

Eating at a buffet where we had a meet and greet with Winnie the Pooh and friends! Tigger was an absolute crack up! He was so entertaining to watch him interact with people. The buffet was DELICIOUS too! It had the most amazing Salmon I've ever tasted! Yummo!

Em's second favorite was the Tea Cups

Mama's all time favorite

The Gang!

Hot Coco and Fireworks

This photo had absolutely NO editing done (except the writing I put at the top). The picture still doesn't do it justice.

I am SO grateful for this special trip.
I am grateful for establishments that take care and support their Military and making it possible for families to afford such a nice vacation.
I am grateful for 2 easy going, happy Children who slept the whole way home and by doing so cut our travel time home by 3 hours.
I am MOST grateful to my Husband, who insisted we took this trip. Who insisted that I got a spa day while on vacation. Who insisted we buy keepsakes we can have to remember forever.
Even if all of it made a pretty good dent in the wallet.
I appreciate that more than he knows.

I appreciate my family and the memories we get to make together.

One more week!

2011-11-18T06:24:00.000-08:00

Now.. where was I?

2011-11-15T19:57:00.001-08:00

About 3 days after I started my Diet at the beginning of the year I found out that I was pregnant!
Needless to say, the diet was short lived.

I am proud to say that NOW I am starting the weight loss journey Alllll over again.

Sigh

I did it before after I had Miss Emmelyn (a nice 50 lbs lost)
I can (and will) do it again.

So, here I am.
On a Tuesday
BEFORE the holidays
without weighing myself first (scale needs batteries)
BUT I did it.
I made the commitment today and I will stick with it until I am down to my goal weight!

I honestly did miss the gym so very much so it's a welcomed change of lifestyle

:D

Wish me luck!!

Stay tuned for updates

... it's time to get my sexy back

; )

Babies in Jammies

2011-11-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

Baby Blessing

2011-11-15T19:33:00.001-08:00

What a blessed Sunday we had!

Miss Charlee Maeh received a very special Baby Blessing in Church by her sweet Daddy.
I wrote down what we could both remember from the blessing in her baby book so we will never forget.

It was a very special day we will remember forever

Halloween 2011

2011-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

I can't forget about one of my favorite Holidays!
I LOVE the Fall
The leaves changing
The smell of Pumpkin candles

&
Jacket and scarf season!

We picked our pumpkins this year at a cute little Church festival.
Emme was on a mission looking for the perfect size baby pumpkin for Sissy.

Miss Sass looking for Pumpkins : )

Just like last year, she loved all the baby pumpkins and wanted to take them all home

Waiting in line for her pony ride

"Patches" the pony
*which she still talks about. almost daily.

How pretty is this girl??

Face painting!

Her exorcist looking "Dora" haha

My beautiful family <3

Carving the pumpkins we picked with our neighbors

Hi Pierce and Tye :)

Shiloh carving her boys some pumpkins

Emme and her pal, Tye making silly faces

After carving the pumpkins we had a potluck BBQ and of course S'mores!

Emme and Daddy with S'more faces :)

Charlee Halloween night ready to Trick or Treat

Pumpkin belly

Ready to go Mom!

Emme, ahoy!

My little Pirate Princess

Papa and Emmers

Emme and Avery being too cute!!

We all had an absolute blast and made tons of memories!
I love my family

New Orleans Zoo

2011-11-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

We decided to make a day of it down in New Orleans.
After the race, we ate a DELICIOUS breakfast at a cute little restaurant Downtown, then headed for the Zoo! We have season passes so we try and use them as much as possible. The Zoo is gorgeous and there is always tons to do : )

Emmers and Daddy touching an Elephant

They feel exactly how you would imagine. But hairy.
So cool!

White Bengal Tiger
Gorgeous!

Papa taking a turn with Char

She looks like a baby doll : )

This guy was my favorite! He was enormous and really seemed like he dug the crowd that he drew in. The baby in the barrel started to mess around with Dad and pulled his hair while hanging on his back. It was cute how they played, very human like.

Handsome feller

It seemed like all the Monkeys were "posing" for pictures that day..

Emme watching the Orangutang family

They also had a new Dinosaur exhibit that had mechanical Dinosaurs in their own enclosure. I was more excited than Emme to check it out because growing up, I got to see "real" Dinosaurs at the Zoo I went to. It brought back some good memories. And of course, Emmers LOVED it. She was timid at first, but she is very intrigued with Dinosaurs so it didn't take long to warm up to them. Very cool exhibit : )

We had a very fun FULL day in Nawlins'
It is such a joy to live so close to such a beautiful piece of America.
We love it here!

New Orleans Jazz Marathon

2011-11-15T10:47:00.000-08:00

On October 29th, Eric participated in his very first Half Marathon!
13.1 miles

Papa, Emme, Charlee and I went along for support.
We met Eric at 2 different points in the race to cheer him on!

It was the coldest morning we have had so far so we were bundled up pretty well.
Here is E patiently waiting to see Daddy

Emmers cheered on the runners
"Good job, guys!"
She also kept telling them
"You're not my Dad, where's my Dad??"
She was a crack up.

We found him :)

Hi Daddy!

Babe finished the race in 1:54.11. at a 8:43 pace.
That's a whole 6 minutes off his goal time!

Eric's Dad showing us what he used to protect his nips.
The only band aid we had were Dora's :)

E proudly wearing Daddy's metal

We are all so proud of you and the time spent to train and prepare for this challenge. What a relief it's over, right? ;)
We < 3 you!

Oh yeah, the foot stress fracture that you achieved in the race was pretty bad ass as well.

Choo Choooo

2011-11-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Since our little girl is so special by being born on Christmas, Daddy and Mama decided she gets to open her Birthday gift early and be able to enjoy presents on more than one day a year. Papa Jaeger came for a visit the last week in October to meet miss Charlee and spend some time with the girls. We had an amazing time and Emme wouldn't let Papa out of her sight. We love family time <3

We are SO glad Papa was able to help put together Emmers Birthday present. It was a tedious project that had SO many pieces to assemble. It took them all afternoon. It was worth it, she LOVED it!!

Happy EARLY 3rd Birthday, my Angel.

Charlee is 2 months!

2011-11-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

SO much has happened in the last couple weeks!

Our poor Laptop is getting a boo boo fixed and we should have it back soon! That is where I work on my blog so to not have it is killing me! For the time being, I am using our pathetic Desktop that sounds like a train going by when it loads a page.

There is so much to talk about but that will have to wait until we get laptop back so I can upload more than one picture without crashing the computer ;) BUT for the time being I wanted to share Charlee Maeh's 2 month well baby appointment!

Here's what's NEW!

11lbs 5 oz Birth was- 7lbs 9 oz

22 inches Birth was- 20 1/4

Eats 2-3 hours during the day

Sleeps at night now for a solid 7-8 hour stretch!

She actually LIKES tummy time! She cracks up looking at herself in a mirror and always is smiling. She loves it when you bounce with her in your arm and sing a high pitch song. She loves baby talk and cooing right back to you.

She has outgrown 90% of her newborn stuff and even the 0-3 month stuff is getting snug.

She got her shots and that's always not fun but I can tell you it gets easier with the second child. Not THAT much easier, but easier non the less. I used to cry a little when Emme got hers. This time I had both my girls with me so no crying for Mama. Emme told the Lady who gave Charlee the shots "Baby didn't like the shots very much". I tried to warn Emme beforehand that when Charlee gets her shots she may cry but it's okay bc Mama will kiss her all better. I didn't want Emme scared thinking they were hurting her Sister. It worked, Emme helped Mama kiss Charlee's legs all better and it was all over before we knew it!

All checked out perfect for our little Miss. I talked to her Doctor about our Disney World trip we have planned at the end of the month and she saw nothing wrong with it. In fact, she is taking HER twin girls who were born MICRO-Preemie at 29 weeks to Disney around the same time as we are. They are only 4 months old too! She says she believes in the "walmart" method of exposing your kids rather than the "lock your kid inside all day" (which, since my baby has caught cold after cold is what I have been doing lately). Me personally, I think it's a little extreme of her taking her babies that young after being so premature, but hey, who's the doctor, right?

Regardless, we ARE taking our much needed Disney Vacation and I can't wait to frolic in Florida for a full week with my family!!

I can't put into words the amount of happiness this girl brings to me. Her airy coos and chuckles alone make you want to kiss her to death. She is such a joy to have and I can honestly say I have not had ONE negative thought about her. It's very powerful for me to say this for so many reasons. It means I am not only comfortable KNOWING I am human, therefore I make mistakes, It also means I am continuously growing as a person and a parent. Little things just don't bother me anymore as before I would let them completely overwhelm me. Having a baby in the house again has made me thankful all over again and left in awe of the wonderment of the miracle of life.

Most of all, I am SO SO SO Thankful I am enjoying my baby every second of the day!

I love you my sweet, wonderful Charlee Maeh!

Party Animals

2011-10-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

We know how to have a good time

at 9:30 on a Friday night.

It took 7 weeks

2011-10-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

But it finally happened...

Getting the girls and myself out the door in time for a doctors appointment + a million things happening at once, = the inevitable.

OVERLOAD CITY

Aaand they broke me!

Getting 3 girls dressed and ready for even the simplest of outings is hard..

But today was a freak of nature. Today was a like a marathon got together with a day of walking around Disneyland and made cute little exhausting babies..

It was equally draining both physically and mentally.

*Luckily the day turned around after a much needed nap we all took*

Anyway, just thought I should remember this so I can look back and not question if I ever got my booty handed to me by my babies...which I did...hard. : )

On a more serious note

2011-10-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

It was a big day for the Jaeger family yesterday.

After sacrament meeting, the Bishop and 2 other Men laid their hands on Eric's head and gave him the Melchizedek Priesthood through a Blessing.

Charlee and I were able to be there and listen to the very specific, beautiful blessing.

For those of you who would like to know more about the history and information on what exactly it is to be a worthy holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood, please click on the link below.

http://lds.org/study/topics/melchizedek-priesthood?lang=eng&query=Melchizedek+Priesthood

"All who hold the priesthood can use it to benefit others, regardless of their particular Church assignment or priesthood office. For example, in working with their families, men are authorized to carry out their patriarchal responsibilities, including blessing family members. In addition, they are authorized to heal the sick, seek personal knowledge, and give general help and comfort to those whom they contact."

It also was the next step needed to reach our goal of becoming an Eternal Family. Both Eric and I need to be worthy Church members in order to be sealed together and to our girls in the LDS Temple for all time and Eternity.

One of the steps to make this happen was that Eric needed to receive the Priesthood. So now we are that much closer!

The most important day our our lives will be when we are all sealed together in the Temple. That day is soon approaching! (Sometime early next year the Bishop says).

He also will be able to give little Charlee her Baby Blessing in Sacrament Meeting soon. This will be a very special time for our family and we are looking forward to it.

I am without words with how grateful I am that we, as a family, have grown in our Church and am so humbled with the fellowship we encounter from such wonderful Members each and every Sunday. We love our Bishop and we love our Church family.

I would like to bear testiment that I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that I belong to the true Church. I believe that the Gospel was restored on the earth by Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. That through His atoning sacrifice, we can be prepared for His return in the second coming. I believe in Heavenly Fathers plan of Eternal Families and that after death, we can be together forever once again. I believe in the power of prayer and that my Heavenly Father loves me and knows me.

I know that being sealed as a family will bring eternal blessings. I am so grateful to have a worthy Priesthood holder to bless our lives and our house. That my girls and I can turn to him in times of need and be blessed and healed. I love my Husband and my girls with all my heart and I love my Heavenly Father for giving them to me.

More birthday cake

2011-10-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

We've had another birthday!

Daddy turned 27!

*Thank you for making us laugh and love you daily*

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Your 3 ladies love you more than anything.
And that's saying a lot. Emme loves pirates...

Grandma Visits

2011-10-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

Back in September we got to see the Jaeger's favorite person! Grandma Shur!
She flew in from Phoenix to spend a short but wonderful 5 days with us when Charlee was almost 2 weeks old. Unfortunately, that is the exact time the horrible sick bug infected Mama and Emme at the time. I felt miserable and Emme wasn't too hot herself. I was determined to try and tough through it! I have been looking forward to her visit since the pregnancy started! We love Grandma so so much!

During the visit we were able to show her around New Orleans and spend a gorgeous day there.

We went to the Aquarium (E's favorite!)
We ate lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. (delicious!)
And we walked around Jackson Square and the French Quarter.
I'd like to point out that I was only 12 days postpartum when we took this trip! I recovered that much faster than the previous C-Section! I took it easy of course, but it was amazing to be able to walk all day and not hurt (that much anyway ;) I was very happy to be able to do that!

Grandma and Emmers with the Penguins

Jackson Square, New Orleans

My beautiful Mother in Law with the boogs

How gorgeous is this town??

Breathtaking Cathedral

It was a great trip we were able to enjoy before the next day hit and the house came down with the sickness!

We love and miss you Grandma so so much!!!!

The eldest and her boots

2011-10-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

PS- I've been able to make an outfit out of that dress for 2+ years now ; )
It's just too cute to pack away. In the winter, I'll throw a white coat over it!

<3 <3 <3

1 month old

2011-10-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

What the frik.

Where did the last 30 days go?
It really is scary to think how fast it went.
In that time, our visitors have come and gone, the sick bug destroyed our house but is finally gone (although it did leave us some nice parting gifts- runny noses and coughs) and our old schedule is definitely gone.
I don't want to say this new one is pull your hair out crazy.. it's just different.
In these short 30 days I have learned I need to manage my time better. Notice I said I need to- still haven't exactly done it.
I am happy to say I have the daytime routine down pretty well ( although I haven't figured out how to tend to Emme when I am nursing Charlee..especially when she needs wiping after using the potty)
Night time is a different story.
Example:
We put Emmers to bed at 730 or 8pm. Usually Charlee is asleep herself around that time so Eric and I enjoy some quiet time before bed. Eric gets up at 445am so he is out normally around 9. THIS is when I need to manage better- I need to sleep when everyone else is sleeping! Instead I choose to Internet surf, watch TV, read my book, but mainly just watch TV. When I was pregnant I had this routine. I had a horrible time sleeping so this worked for me.
It doesn't work anymore.
Going to bed at 1 or 2 am is insane.
Charlee feeds around 1-3 times a night and usually falls right back to sleep after each feeding. There are those nights of course that it takes her a little bit of time to get back down. Those are the killers. Regardless of how much sleep both Charlee and I got that night, Big Sister Emme wakes up at 7am. The golden mother rule of "Sleeping when baby sleeps" is officially over when you have the second one.
I have had success with timing naps and if all the stars align just right I get to nap right along with the girls.
There aren't many, but one of the downsides of nursing is your caffeine intake should be minimal. It makes waking up and being alert to deal with a toddler pretty difficult.

I know it's still pretty early to have such a different schedule mastered, but that's how I am. I like to know what to expect. Especially if it's my job.

Anyway, ENOUGH talk about sleep! On to what this post was originally about.

Charlee is now ONE MONTH : )

She is still feeding very well and sleeping more and more and for longer stretches.
She just started this cute airy "coo" we hear it a few times a day.
Her diapers are able to have longer stretches between changing (thank goodness)
She sleeps in her bassinet during the night and plays in her bouncer and play mat during the day.
She is a wiggle worm! She likes to be held in the crook or your arm and not over the shoulder (the way you hold a baby when you burp them).
Big Sissy, Emme loves loves loves her (praying that lasts) She is actually giving her a kiss right now as I type this... a big boogerie kiss! : )
When Charlee lets out a cry Emme says " uh-oh, sissy wants Mommy's milk!"
Very cute.

Daddy is spending so much time with Emmers and I know it is doing her worlds of good. She has been seeking a lot of attention lately ( yes, more than usual) and she will get it in any form! Good or bad. We are working very hard with her to turn this around. Baby or no baby, she needs to figure out she doesn't run this household. Emmers (like all kids) does well with structure, so I know she'll be back to normal in no time.

For the time being, I am taking all the stressful situations with a grain of salt and thoroughly enjoying my sweet new baby. Especially if time continues to speed by like this last month!

Emme singing her favorite song "Child of God" to her sissy

This shows how much Emmers loves her sissy. She let Charlee snuggle with her favorite thing ever, Peppa Pig!

Look at the perfect round head

Perfect tootsies

Just another Monday night in our house

2011-09-27T08:24:00.000-07:00

Eric and I were watching the Bravo show Millionaire Matchmaker yesterday and this conversation took place. Verbatim.

Douche-bag millionaire dude- "I used to have kids, I don't anymore" ( long story, but he left and disowned the kids along with the failed marriage)

Eric- (appalled by the statement so decided to joke about it ) "Kids are baggage, that's why!"

Eric- (we always like to get Emme to repeat funny things so...) "Emme, can you say 'Kids are baggage' ??"

Emme- (very matter-of-factly) " No Daddy!, I NOT baggage!!"

Swear to you.

I think both Eric and I peed a little.

It happened

2011-09-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well, crap.

Miss Charlee woke up yesterday morning sounding like a little piggy with her stuffed up nose.

Luckily though her temp hasn't gone past 99.3 (remember the magic number for the ER and having those invasive tests done is 100.4)

I don't like that it's that close but I'm keeping a good eye on it.

She has her moments of being uncomfortable and letting Mama know it. My poor baby.

I watched a video online on how to properly suction a nose and that has made a huge difference so hopefully tonight wont be full of restless sleep for both Mama and Baby.

Please continue to say prayers that our precious 3 week old will have good health and specifically for that temperature to stay below 100.4

Our family would be so grateful.

PS- Both Emme and I are feeling MUCH better and Daddy only had a 24 hour bug

We are still alive

2011-09-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

Barely.

Emme and I caught a nasty cold during the worst possible time.
We have to keep our sick germs away from baby.
I was scared stupid by the doctor when she told me that if baby gets sick and gets a temp over 100.4 then she has to be admitted to the hospital and have all sorts of tests run including a spinal tap!!!
I am washing my hands raw and wearing a hospital mask when I nurse her.
Can I just say how torturous it is NOT being able to kiss and love on your newborn??
It's almost as hard as keeping a 2 year old away from her sissy she loves to be around.

Blarg.
I'll be back when we have our household under a little bit of control.

Please pray Charlee doesn't get sick.

Sweet as can Bee

2011-09-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

“Sugar in the gourd and honey in the horn, I was so happy since the hour I was born.”

This is just one of the many beautiful photos we are waiting on from the session we had on Thursday.

*I told you Emme's tantrum was worth it ;)

Getting to know Charlee and her first week

2011-09-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

She is quite the adorable one, huh?

I am such a grateful Mama these days. I have so very much to be thankful for. I delivered a healthy baby, I am a week into recovering from the c-section and feel like a million bucks (compared to the previous c-section). I am not bluesy or weepy or having depressing thoughts. I am just happy. Happy to have such a beautiful family. Happy to be alive. Happy to know that I am a lucky and blessed Mother and Wife.

All of my fears about postpartum recovery/emotions have been put to rest.
I know it has a lot to do with already being a Mother and knowing a little of what to expect.
Charlee has proven just how different babies can be from one another in just this short sweet week of her life.
Her personality is really coming out a lot earlier than Emme's did.
*I do want to stop right there for a second and mention that I don't want to be "that" Mother who compares her children to one another. I am, after all, writing this journal for them to read and be proud of one day. They will be in competition enough as it is with each other I'm sure ; )*
So with that cleared up, let's talk a little bit about Charlee-

She is a poop machine. On the hour, every hour we change her. She does give us a break during the night as she is a fantastic sleeper then and I only change her when I feed her.

After a VERY painful beginning to nursing my newborn, I am happy to say everything is back to normal. It's been a while since I have nursed and so when Charlee latched on- I trusted she got enough "boob" and since she seemed content and happy suckling away I assumed she got it. I was sadly mistaken. We later determined she was just suckling the very tip of my breasts for the first 24 hours causing an improper latch. By then it was too late.. the damage was done. She gave me cracked and bleeding nipples.
I. was. in. horrible. pain.
I have a new respect for moms who have been through this. I had no problems nursing with my first born due to a lactation nurse being there to show me. I told the nurses that I would remember how to since I nursed Emme for 14 months. I haven't, however nursed a newborn in quite some time so that wake up call was sadly, a very painful one. It took a visit to the lactation consultant, crazy looking nipple breathing plastic contraptions, and a ton of lanolin to help heal my poor baby feeders. All the while you still need to nurse in order to establish your brand new milk supply. Prayers, tears, and determination got me through it. I wouldn't wish bleeding, cracked nipples on anyone!

Even with all that mess, all it took was for ME to learn again how to place her on the breast and she got it perfectly from there. She is a very good eater and my milk supply is a very healthy amount. I pumped the other day and got 6 oz and that was just 30 min after I nursed her! *Can you say cooooow??* She eats during the day every 2-3 hours and at night every 4-5 hours giving me an amazing stretch of time to sleep (let's pray that lasts). Last night she slept for a solid 6 hours in her bassinet, I fed and changed her then she slept another 4 hours in her swing.

Her personality is so chill. I have such a content baby. After I nurse her she will go to sleep for about an hour then do some tummy time or put her in the light to try and wash the jaundice out. While she is awake she just stares and wiggles her limbs and moves her head all around while soaking in her blurry environment. We just recently started to offer the Binki to her and every once in a while she will take it. Mainly, she prefers to just chill out laying on the bumbo pillow or her bouncer and make the cutest grunting sounds (usually leading to a nice poop).

I love holding her right after a nursing even though it cuts into my sleeping time. I honestly just can't get enough of this baby. She is such a sweet little yummy thing.

***************

Let's rewind a bit as I want the Hospital stay remembered. Leading up to delivery, everyone has their advice to give you about what they think of Keesler Hospital. Some bad, some good, some just "eh". I thought my delivery with my first born was a good one. That was until I was treated like an absolute queen at this hospital. My stay was as perfect as they can get (in my opinion). ALL the nurses were the most caring people and you could really tell they loved their jobs. Tiffany and Audrey were angels who worked the day shift. Eric and I especially loved these two young nurses. They would stay in our room most of their shift and just talk. They were fascinated about my surgery learning about my uterus didelphys and how cool it was that I was able to get pregnant with all the crazy circumstances. In my delivery room there were 5 extra medical students just so they could see what one looked like. The nurses told us that we were the "talk of the town" that day. They kept us entertained and well taken care of. The 2 night shift nurses were just as amazing. They offered us each night to take Charlee and watch her (not protocol ) at their desk while Mom and Dad could sleep. If you know anything about military hospitals, you would know how big of a deal that is. They would cart her in to nurse then cart her back to their station as soon as I was done.
It. was. glorious.

Tiffany and Audrey. My day time Angel Nurses

Cheri the night time Angel Nurse

The snack food in the hospital was great but the main dishes were pretty bad. Luckily, we didn't have to be stuck with just that. Our good friends who just moved here from Texas, the Nabingers, came baring food, magazines and candy during our stay. Jannette was an angel who drove in the tropical storm to bring us some yummy home cooked comfort food. She also was able to watch Emme for a bit while my sister, Holly was able to take a break from babysitting mooshk and spend some bonding time with Charlee and some moral boosting for Mama. I am so thankful for good friends like them. It's so reassuring to know there are still really good people out there.

We stayed just over 2 days and it was bittersweet to say goodbye to our wonderful nurses.

******************

We left the hospital Sunday afternoon but ended up having the worst timing. As they were wheelchairing me to the exit the Heavens decided right then and there to open up and Tropical Storm Lee was at it again. It DUMPED rain. I waddled that 20 feet to the car as fast as I could but still ended up totally soaked. Charlee was covered in her car seat and blankets so she was good. It took us a while to drive home going less than 10 MPH. It was a crazy amount of rain and something we definitely will never forget.

Leaving the Hospital

Aunt Holly and Big Sister, Emme greeted us as we arrived home.

It really has been non stop since then.
I like to push my limits and do too much then pay for it later it turns out. Thank goodness for good meds because by the end of the day I was pretty darn sore.

*Monday was a nice relaxing day filled with lots of picture taking.

*Tuesday was her 2 day baby appointment at the hospital along with me meeting with the lactation consultant and having the last of my staples removed.

*Wednesday I went and got my hair done. The ladies in the Salon thought I was nuts but they understood when I told them that after you have a baby you just want to feel a little bit "normal" again. It felt amazing to get my hair colored and cut. It was a nice little 2 hour break too! Later that night we gave Charlee her first bath at home and her first bottle!!

She ate the whole bottle on the first try! : )

*Thursday we had a photo shoot set up with a new photographer we found local on Facebook. She said it was best to get the cute little newborn shots done withing their first week. So off we went on our first family outing as a brand new family of four. We were late. We are NEVER late to anything. One thing my Husband and I share in common is our dislike for tardiness. It stressed us out already being late so by the time we got to her house we were a little agitated. I hope Brooke doesn't take offense to me saying this but that hour and a half we spent at her house was THE most stressed both Eric and I have felt. Ever. To sum up and explain the crazy goes like this: We left the house around dinner time and didn't feed our 2 year old. She was hungry and VERY cranky the whole shoot. I felt like I was dealing with one of those "Toddlers and Tiaras" kids. For those of you not familiar with that TLC TV show, basically they make episodes about demon children getting dressed up in glitter and curly wigs to disguise their ugly personalities. Back to Emme. We let her cry, scream, say naughty things, just so she would sit still and listen to the photographer. We even had to reward her with Marshmallows after she got done taking a swing at me! JUST SO SHE COULD SIT STILL AND KISS HER FREAKING SISTER! She ran the show that night while Eric and I had to suck it up and just take it! We were paying a lot of money so all parenting sadly went out the window that night. We couldn't wait to get her booty to the car and take off our forced smiles. If I drank- that would have been the night to get tanked. Emme got a nice looong timeout when we got home followed by bedtime after eating a couple bites of dinner. Today, however, we were able to see some sneak peek pictures and oh my goodness!! Eric and I both agree it was worth it...and that's saying a lot! The pictures are going to be breathtaking.

*Friday- Holly and Eric cleaned the entire house in the morning. Then Holly, Emme, Charlee and I had some fun girl time and went to Kangarooz followed by a nice lunch at Red Lobster. My wonderful Charlee slept the entire outing : )

*Saturday (today)- We had, like always, a very emotional goodbye to Holly. Took a nice long family nap this afternoon and got the chance to figure out how to function as a new family of four. Wednesday my amazing Mother in law flys in to spend a few days and I cannot wait for her visit.

I'm sure Emme is confused with all these people coming in and out but she is handling everything very well (with the occasional acting out and of course the random demon child episode). She still loves to help with anything Sissy related and wants to hold her all the time. She is fascinated by breastfeeding and gives me snuggles when I feed Charlee. I love snuggling with my two girls during this precious bonding time. She is also very respectful when I ask her to go play her fishy game on the iPad when Mama just wants to nurse alone with Charlee.

And the week isn't over yet! We have Church in the Morning!! ; )

Welcome Charlee Maeh

2011-09-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

Day 1

Friday 5am- Dressed in gown ready to start IV's and the last of the paperwork

Enjoying my last couple hours of pregnancy and my last maternity picture

8:25 am Charlee arrives!

Looking so much like her big sister!

Minutes old and Daddy holding our baby

Weighing 7lbs 9 oz and 20 1/4 inches

Mamas first time holding baby

Our very special visitor Aunt Holly

The moment I've been envisioning for the past 9 months. Emme holding her baby sissy.

Daddy showing her to be gentle and nice

She took it very seriously and was in love with Charlee. Mom barely got a kiss hello!

Feeling how soft she was

Daddy and his girls

Big Sister kisses

Brand new Charlee

Dad becoming a pro again at burping

******************
Day 2- Saturday

The family going for a walk in the hallways. Giving Charlee a fun little ride

More kisses

Aunt Holly with her babies

Enjoying the walk by snoozing away

First family photo

What a big helper ; )

Being a patient little waiter while Daddy wraps Charlee up to give to Sissy again

In such awe

More kisses

She sang "I am a child of God" and "Twinkle Little Star" to her baby sissy

My two precious babies

Feeling her soft hair

Not wanting her turn to end : )

Our time in the hospital with very special people.

It's been about 36 hours since our hospital stay has started and what an a precious/happy/busy/tiring time it's been so far.
We are due to go home in the am. I can't wait to update more about our next to perfect visit! We are truly, truly blessed.

These photos are a VERY abridged story of what the last couple days have been like. When I am home and settled more, I will tell you the whole story.

Right now I have an adorable big cheeked newborn wanting to nurse again :)

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2011-08-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

All I want for my 25th

2011-08-30T10:48:00.001-07:00

For the baby to stay put until Friday at 5am...

I am not moving from my couch today

Just in case.

Oh- and cheaper car insurance ; )

38 weeks

Happy Birthday to Meeee

2011-08-25T18:05:00.001-07:00

Wahoooo!

I'd like to welcome our newest addition to the Jaeger household!

Aaand it doesn't poop or keep you up at night ; )

I think Eric finally had enough of me complaining of boredom and noticing that I am getting super impatient and anxious about the next little addition coming in a week.
He took mercy on me and let me open my present a little early this year!
Yes, this should do the trick and keep me sidetracked for the next week.

Thank you Babe!

So far I've just used the iPad's Photobooth app and I am sold!

Baby Sprinkle

2011-08-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

Charlee is officially set!
The Baby "Sprinkle" on Saturday was an amazing success!
A couple very sweet Sisters from my Ward threw an amazing baby shower.
All we needed were Diapers and Wipes, and boy did we get what we asked for : )
We are stocked for a good while!
The theme was pink, handmade EVERYTHING, girliness.
Every little detail did not go unnoticed, especially by this Mama!
Check out the pictures for yourself!

Invites that my very good friend Maria made for our precious edition

Sign in table at the front door stocked with clothes pins to play the infamous "Clothes Pin" game
(and to take home, they were adorable!)

I wish I got a better picture of the sign (light wasn't working with me). I took those letters home so I can hang them on the front of Charlee's door.

The wonderful ladies who showed us so much love!

Games- This one is the "Candy poo in a Diaper" where you have to guess what kind of candy bar is melted in the diaper. : )

The food was DIVINE and that Fruit Pizza was oh so yummy!

I didn't get a picture of what we had for breakfast but it was as yummy and cute as the rest of the food. She had yogurt laid out with a line of toppings to choose from so you could make your own parfait. It was delicious!

This Freaking Adorable diaper cake was made by a very sweet lady, Amber. She is obviously very talented and creative!

The Shower was so sweetly put together and all the Diapers and Wipes were so appreciated. We are a blessed family!

Thank you again times a million Maria and Amber! You girls are amazing!!!!

14 days left

2011-08-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

I started a countdown on my kitchen white board as soon as I had less than 100 days left. I seriously can't believe it's almost in the single digits. I get extremely giddy each time I walk past it knowing how fast 2 weeks will go by.
I have almost completed the "to do" list and I feel good about how the house looks and how Emme is acting. She really did a complete turn around in such a short period of time. She is back to her normal 14 hour sleep routine and with that magically returned my happy girl. She really is such a loving little boog and I think that's what pained me the most was knowing that she was just overly tired and a grump. I'm just so happy she is herself again. It's funny what sleep (or lack of) can do to a child.
I really think Emme has grasped the concept of her baby sister very well. I just know that she will be an amazing big sister. I've wanted to give her a sibling for a while now and I'm so glad she gets to meet her soon.
I've been worried that I wont find things to keep my busy enough to pass the last few days but today it really really hit me. I need to soak up EVERY second I have left with Emme being my only child. My full 100% attention has been her for over 2 1/2 years. Adding another child to our lives will bring so many blessings, I know it. It worries me though, I've said it before- I just don't know how I can love another person as much as I do my Emme.
I'm not saying I wont, I know it will happen. For some reason I feel weird about knowing I will love something else so unconditionally. It fills me with so many bi-polar emotions it's overwhelming. At the end of the day the emotion that trumps all others is knowing how happy she will make our family. So that's it- I just have to sit back, relax, spend every moment I can with my boogie and anticipate the happiness I know Charlee will bring into this family.
I had an amazing pampered nail salon day with a girlfriend. I have an amazing Baby Shower planned by a very good friend on Saturday. I downloaded "The Help" on my Kindle that I started last night. AND I have an adorable 2 year old and an amazing Husband who like to have as much fun as me. Yes, these 2 weeks will sadly/happily go by fast.

This little gem arrived in the mail today as well!

It is the most adorable Baby Memory and Calendar Book I have ever seen. Of course I found it in an Etsy.com store. It is a handmade modern book filled with relevant questions and pages you actually want to fill out. There is a pregnancy section so I can't wait to jot down those memories before they get foggy. I'm not even done with the pregnancy and I have already forgotten details of it.

I know it doesn't fit with the post, really, but I had to add this picture to my blog. It's Emme's first time decoration cookies! She of course loved it!

Time to go fill out some of the book!

9 months Baby!

2011-08-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

Today marks the beggining of the LAST month of pregnancy! Since I have the scheduled c-sec on Sept. 2nd, I will only be pregnant for a little more than half of it.

That means I have only 17 days left!

Other than sleep still being a struggle, I am feeling pretty damn good right now. I think my extra burst of nesting energy has kicked in! I only have a few things left on the list of things I wanted DONE before Charlee got here. The most exciting one is the hospital bag. I wanted to save that for when time was closer. That one is the Mack Daddy of them all! It means no matter if you're ready or not, the baby is on the way. Soon.

Now how am I going to entertain myself these last 408 hours???

Playing "Mommy"

2011-08-11T06:26:00.000-07:00

I can't remember exact details of when my Sisters and I use to play it as kids, but I do remember how I always longed to be a Mommy one day. I dreamt about what kind of Mommy I would be and how I would keep a house and what my Husband would be like. I always thought it was neat that my Husband's name was Eric, that way he technically is my "Prince Eric"- from the Little Mermaid (yes, I am that into Disney). I don't think I've ever told him that, either haha.

It's pretty amazing to me how much I don't remember of my kidhood. I turn to Holly when I want to know things, she has a remarkable memory. I do, however, remember that when I did play "Mommy", I always had my baby be a Girl. Most baby dolls are girls, so it only seemed natural to not change the sex.

I had a thing with braiding my doll's hair. I guess I thought that braiding hair and changing diapers were the only responsibilities, really. I was good at it too. Braiding hair was calming (and still is, I braid Emme's Doll's hair in church while listening to the talks).

And I specifically remember thinking how amazing it would be to braid my own daughters hair one day. I couldn't wait to do that.

This post doesn't have much relevance to anyone but me. I just simply wanted to state that I do remember that one memory vividly. I also KNEW that what I wanted to be when I grew up was a Mommy. I wanted to write this post to remember that last night I was able to braid my daughters hair for the first time.

It was as magical as I imagined it would be.

Baby news

2011-08-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have our C-Section date!
My Dr appointment went perfect today and Charlee is right on track measuring 5 1/2 lbs.
We also finally have a day to look forward too (the ONLY perk about having a scheduled c-sec).

September 2nd

Charlee was looking mighty cozy in the U/S with her head in my ribs on the right side. Of course if she does decide to flip before my c-sec date, I will still want to try a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Again, due to my uterus being a little different and having a funny shape, she is most likely going to make my ribs her pillow until she comes out.
So there we have it! Exactly 4 more weeks til little Missy is here!

I am a couple days shy of being 35 weeks and the last month has been pretty rough. I had a very smooth pregnancy up until the 3rd trimester hit. Ever since then though, wow. Sleeping is an absolute joke. I am having pretty bad hip pains at night that make me toss and turn more than normal. When I do lay on the right side, I feel like I am literally crushing her head. I have been reassured by my Dr a few times that she is safe but it's hard to think that when I can feel the outline of her head so distinctly- crushing my lung and ribs. And I still have 4 weeks of growth ahead of me.
Heartburn is every so often, but when it hits, it's no joke. Tums doesn't do it but I found that Milk does help a lot.
This heat is now getting to me! It took a couple months to change my good attitude sour, but it happened. August is usually the hottest month in Summer, so I plan to continue to do what I do best and stay in doors.
We have everything pretty much ready for her. I am having a Diaper Shower thrown for me on the 20th by my good friend, Maria. I didn't even know they had those so when she suggested it, I was thrilled. Pretty cool idea because honestly, that's all I need :)
I am SO much looking forward to seeing some family!!! Especially my Sister, Holly. She booked her ticket 10 min after I told her my C/S date.

Countdown is now only 28 days!

I thought this was too good not to share. I picked up some wooden letters to paint and....yeeaaah....

Here is the Mama at 34 weeks and 3 days.

<3

ER visit taking less than 40 min??

2011-08-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Every Mom's dream, right??

I am still in shock that's how our experience went!

Luckily, It wasn't your typical ER visit. Emme had a pretty bad bug bite that was turning her arm puffy and red. I knew that wasn't normal, so we went in first thing Monday morning after talking to the Nurse help line at Keesler. They said she was probably having an allergic reaction to the bite and to go ahead and get her seen.
As soon as I finished filling out the last of paperwork, we were seen right away for her vitals. Right as we finished that up they sent us right to our room. That was definitely a good sign we were going to be seen soon .
To get Emme excited and not shy about the experience, I told her it was her turn to go to the Doctor and not Mommy's. We visit the Dr for my OB appointments weekly, so Emme was thrilled that SHE got to sit on the patient table, instead of Mama. She even loved wearing her patient bracelet. We love playing with her little Dr's kit at home, so when I said she was going to play that with the actual Dr, she got even more excited.
Sure enough, the nice Dr was in to see us as soon as we got settled in our room. She confirmed that she was having an allergic reaction to some sort of insect bite and proceeded to mark Emme's arm with pen so we can monitor if the swollen area grows larger. If it did, I was to give her antibiotics. The Dr was happy to hear Emme wasn't being affected by the bite other than the swollen red area.

And that was it.
Our visit was over in the actual ER in less than 20 min. We walked over to the hospital pharmacy to pick up her prescription of Benadryl and antibiotics and we out before we knew it!
A total of 40 min start to finish!
I was one happy Mama.
In the beginning of the visit, I promised Emme if she did good, we would go eat breakfast at a restaurant.
THAT part was the disaster, actually.

Note to Mommy self- Never give Benadryl BEFORE going to a Restaurant (or any place).
No more than an hour after giving her a dose, she was a cranky tired girl who wanted nothing to do with food or Mama. IHOP was a mistake and we took our food to go and went straight home.

The very next day, her swollen forearm went down considerably, meaning we didn't have to use the antibiotics! (which is great because Dr did mention a nasty side affect would have been diarrhea :/)

I don't have any cool pictures to show of the adventure but here are are some recent photos of the cute stink.

A Forever Marriage

2011-08-03T18:16:00.000-07:00

"It just has to be forever, it wouldn't make sense for us to come this far and not have it perpetuated."

Ramblings and other things

2011-07-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

- It's been a week since our new bedtime routine has started and I am so overjoyed to say- it. worked. She currently is back on a good toddler sleep schedule sleeping 7:30pm- 7am. She literally wakes up within 5 minutes of 7 am, too. She is still crying when it's time for naps but is out within 2 min. I am starting to reward her not just for sleeping in her room but if she goes to bed without crying, she will get a reward.

- Emme is still suffering from separation anxiety towards me. This includes me even leaving to use the restroom, she gets up and follows me. She doesn't like it when I leave a room period. It is getting a little better since we have started taking her more and more to the gym daycare and church nursery. She cries when I tell her Mommy isn't staying with her but every time I tell her the same thing. " I will be right back, Mommy will always come back for you". She usually settles down within minutes of drop off. I hate that she is feeling this way, I hope this doesn't last long.

- Now that one child is back to letting Mom sleep, the other one tagged in. Charlee is very much loving the position that she is in. I am dying. Whenever I have the fake braxton hicks contractions, her head pushes so hard against my lungs and ribs I have to massage her back down or else she takes my breath away. It is quite intense and I'm worried that since I am only 33 weeks how much room and how much more I can take. Emme was breech and her head pushed against my ribs but it didn't become uncomfortable until the last couple weeks. Charlee has been at it for weeks now and it wont get better unless she turns. Dr says I should try a rocking exercise to help coax her down town, but that was the only advice she had for breech babies. So here I am, down on all fours looking like a cat in heat rocking back and forth while trying to carry on a serious conversation with the Hubs. I look and feel ridiculous but if that small chance happens and she turns, then heck yes it would have been worth it.

- I've been feeling very weepy and bluesy lately. Nothing to be too concerned about, but some days I feel like being a stay home Mom is quite possibly the hardest job in the world. The worst are the Groundhog days. Another day another toddler. Wake up, force Emm to eat breakfast, watch cartoons while I clean up the same messes, blah freaking blah blah and so on. I hope that when baby comes I'll feel more of use and not have this worthless hum lurking in my head saying poison, mood killing things. I can't wait for the exciting new routine a baby brings. Basically, I am just ready to be out of this funk and be a full functioning, have my body and mind back, Mom.

- I am missing Family terribly and can't hardly wait for them to visit. Any and all visitors will be welcomed, so hurry up and get here! This waiting game for Charlee makes it that much more exciting bc I have family to see along with a brand new daughter.

- Emme has been saying THE most precious prayers lately. Dinner one usually goes like this:

"Heamely Father, thank you for dis daaaaaay. Thank you for Monkey Joes and purple Monkey. Thank you for TV. Thank you for Papa, Gma, Baby sisssy. (cue mom reminding her to bless food) Bess foooood, make us strong. Say dees tings name of jesus, aaaaaaaaaamen."

The bedtime prayer is pretty much verbatim, only we bless more family and friends, etc. She blesses monkey joes and purple monkey 2 times a day. What a blessed Monkey ; )

- I am stupidly, over the top excited that Shark Week is starting this Sunday! I look forward to this every year. Something about those things are so intriguing to me. Wish I could explain it better.... How bout this : The very thought of Shark Week starting soon is my happy moment for the night. Sad.

- Church has become the blessing I needed in my life. Some Sundays it feels like a chore to go, but at the end I am always SO grateful I went. I've seen a difference It's made to my family and I am so thankful for that. The friends I have made are the kinds I wish everyone to have in their lives. They are so true and genuine. They are always seeking to know what they can do for you, to make my life that much better. The most selfless bunch of Ladies I have met. I missed having those friends. I grew up with them and now I have them back. I love my church and I love this area!

- Lastly, it's been raining like crazy here the last week and It's put me in the best mood! I love rain. My friend said it best today-"If it's raining and It's still hotter than hot outside, I don't care, all I want to do is snuggle on the couch with a cup of hot coca". I couldn't agree more! Add some popcorn, a movie, and a little girl to snuggle with and I'm set!

Alright, I'm done.

Have a great week everyone!

No more!

2011-07-19T06:16:00.001-07:00

What a crazy last couple weeks we have had in this household.
Let me define crazy:

"Crazy is when a stressed nesting Mom wants to do everything at once with NO exception or else her head will explode".

I am about to tell you a story. A long one.
It is about the

Toughest most challenging part of my Mommy career by far.

It is about a battle between a 2 year old and 2 parents.

Here it is-

A little over 2 weeks ago, Emme decided she just plain didn't want to sleep anymore. She would go to bed at her normal 8pm and start waking up at random times. The first few nights I was putting her right back to sleep but then it kept going on and on. Wanna know where I made THE most horrible mistake?? One 3am morning, I let her come into bed and WATCH CARTOONS while I went back to sleep. Oh my hell. Ever since that morning she woke up like clockwork every chance she got so she could A) come into Mommy's bed and snuggle and B) watch cartoons. She knew I was weak. Hell, I was exhausted. I am not sleeping well at all with this pregnancy now that my dreaded butt nerve (aka Sciatic Nerve) has been keeping me up in pain.
So. it. happened.
She took horrible advantage of me!
For about 1 week I let her run the show (when it came to sleep)
She decided when and where she was going to sleep.
She decided she wanted to go from a solid 12-14 hours sleep a day to 5-9 hours.
She started refusing naps.
She was a cranky cling to Mom every second of the day flat out MONSTER.

I was a hormonal, stressed hot mess.

I was desperate and frantic to find out what the heck happened to my perfect sleeper!

I started reading all my parenting books and read "Happiest toddler on the block".
I did hours of research online and went to "Supernanny" discussion groups.
I've always been a huge fan of the show "Supernanny", so I was set on doing it her way. I've seen it work every show. Kids don't go to bed without a bloody fight then BOOM! magically, a couple nights later, sleeping Angels!
Sold, right?
Well, I tried it. I stood outside of Emmes room for 4 hours picking her up and putting her back in bed. Picking her up and putting her in bed- X's a hundred! Meanwhile, you can't give them any emotion. Not one word was spoken to Emme. That pissed her off royally. I was NOT giving in. I kept humming church hymns in my head and was doing pretty well. Until, about the hundredth time lifting 28 lbs got to me. I felt a very sharp pain in my stomach and realized my belly was extremely tight and wasn't stopping. I had to stop the technique. I am a Mom not just to one child now. Emme won and I was so discouraged to say the least. So I went into her room, gave her a kiss and sat on her bed until she fell asleep. It took her less than a minute to calm down and fall asleep.
Jerk.

I figured out real fast that she was not grasping the concept of the "Supernanny Technique".
I understand consistency is key, but I physically was not able to do it another night.
Plus, I really think she was too young for that technique.

After Emme finally fell asleep at 12 that night, she was up before 6 am the next morning.
I think this was my breaking point. I grabbed her, put her in bed with me and told her to go back to sleep. We both slept in until 10 that morning.

Later that morning I called Eric sobbing not knowing what to do anymore. I DID NOT want a 2 year old back in bed with us. We are about to have a baby in 6-8 weeks and it just isn't realistic to have Emme woken every 3 hours while I nurse a newborn baby. It isn't realistic to have her NOT use her perfect, beautiful room.

We talked to all sorts of Mom's for advice and got tons and tons. I called my Sister to vent. I wept uncontrollable sobs daily (most of them were due to just being exhausted and not knowing what else to do). Bedtime was an absolute panic attack of a chore and I couldn't handle one. more. night.

One piece of advice we went back and forth on is the one we ended up doing!
It has been 4 nights so far. Each night has gotten a little bit better. Emme is slowly giving up earlier and earlier each night.
Wanna know the amazing secret that keeps a kid in her room?

You hold the door shut.

Amazing, right?
She was LIVID the first night.
Angry saying horrible things the 2nd night.
Saying she needed to potty and that she made a mess the 3rd night.
BUT the 4th night?? She lasted 5 min (of just crying I might add) then was out.
I am so excited to see what tonight holds.

Eric stepped up to be mental rod that I needed through this very tough decision.
He did it. He would listen to the God awful things she would say and go in there when she needed to potty and that was it. I sat outside and sobbed on the phone to my Mother in law the first night. The second night I cried in the car in the garage. The third night I did laundry in the laundry room with the door shut. I just could not listen to my baby cry. The fourth night I did a sink load of dishes and before I was done Eric came in the Kitchen with a smile on his face saying Emme was out. "Really?? Only five minutes this time??"

We are winning. We are slowly taking control back.
I never thought it would happen. Let alone happen that fast.

During that time of defiant sleeping, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to take the Binky away (since she wasn't sleeping anyway)
About a week ago, during one of Emme's tantrums about taking a nap, I thought of something. It might just work...

"Emme, do you want to take a nap??'
"No, Mama."
"Okay, so no binky then?"
"No, Mama. No binky."
"Alright, if you don't want your binky should we just throw it away??"
Her eyes lit up
"Yeah, Mama!"
"Okay, let's go throw it away and you won't take a nap then"

She was thrilled by this point. No nap?? Sign her up!

Off she went downstairs, binky in tow, headed for the Kitchen trash.
She threw the damn thing away!
She got very concerned though right after.
"Oh no Mama, it's a mess!"
"It's okay, hunny- You're a big girl now with NO binky!!"

I grabbed the bag out of the trash and had her help me take it to the big trash can outside so she could see for herself it was going bye bye for good.
She was very calm and got what we were doing.
I promised her that since she was a big girl who didn't need a binky anymore that we would go shopping for a new toy to sleep with at night.
She liked that the most.
Daddy came home soon after and off we went to Walmart where we adopted Peppa Pig.

Going to bed that night it was the same ol' fight but I slept with her until she fell asleep. It was a great success!

It is now a week later and she hasn't mentioned it once since she threw it away.
She sleeps with Peppa Pig and carries her around everywhere.

We also started an "Emme good girl chart"
We are on day 5 and so far, it is working so well.
She loves earning her stickers.

Emme putting on her "Nigh Night" sticker. She earns that if she sleeps in her room all by herself.

Emme with pal, Peppa Pig after just waking up.

I am quite the artist, huh?
The top square is "eat your food all gone"
The next square is "help dad with clean up time"
The next square is sadly supposed to be a moon with stars.
The last square is "feed and brush Ace"

Believe it or not, she will finish her dinner not for dessert but for a sticker!

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention we potty trained her on top of all this mess???
I told you the last couple weeks have been crazy.
I am so happy to announce:

Emme hasn't had an accident in 2 weeks! (That's safe to say she is potty trained, right?)
She gave all her diapers to Baby Sissy and loved getting treats when she did her business.

I still can't believe it.
No more binky
No more diapers

*For 6-8 more weeks at least ;)

I am mentally tired just typing this all out. It really was a stressful emotion time for all of us and I am so happy the crazy is slowly coming to an end.
She is still being very clingy to Mom and that is getting exhausting, but I think once she is used to sleeping BACK in her room for a full (at least 12 hours) she'll be back to normal in no time!
I hope.
We have until September to get our toddler back on track and so far it is going very well.
Until baby comes and messes her up again that is ; )

As usual, I will update our adventures and let you know the progress.

It is now naptime... wish me luck!

Name Announcement!

2011-07-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry to tease those who actually care what name we decided on...

Eric and I needed to tell family first then the ones who she will be named after.

Yep-

She is one very lucky lady to get 4 Women who will make up her middle name!

The name we chose for our baby girl will be

Charlee Maeh Jaeger

Eric and I instantly loved Charlee when we heard it. We weren't sure on the spelling, however. My Mother-in-law came up with the "lee" part and it fit so well.

Maeh is the tricky one : )

If you read it as "May" then you are the winner!!!

We wanted the middle name to have meaning and I believe we came up with something special.

We took the first letter of 4 very special people to create it.

M- Meredith (my little sister)

A- Ashlee ( Eric's sister)

E- Elizabeth (Me ;)

H- Holly ( my best friend/sister)

...And so "Maeh" was born : )

I am so excited to hang letters above her crib and decorate baskets with her name and just start actually calling her something!

We honestly thought we'd end up in the hospital with a little bundle in our arms and no name to give her.

Wheew.
I'm so glad we don't have to be in that predicament!

Alright, Charlee Maeh-

We are ready for you (although, please continue to cook a little longer)
and again for the billionth time-

WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOU

My Maiden name is Turner after all...

2011-07-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Emme- Food baby Mama- 29 weeks

30 weeks 3 day US

Went in for another US today to check baby's growth.
Very happy to say everything checked out great.
She is measuring right on track at 3 1/2 lbs
I took blood tests a couple weeks ago and those came back great, too!

My Dr. saw though that baby DID decided to turn and she is now breech, just like her big sister liked it. This means one thing, it is almost certain (due to my uterus shape, circumstance, etc.) that she will not go head down and ultimately, I will have to have a repeat C-Section.
I did very much want to try a VBAC this go around, so the news wasn't the best to hear at the moment. I am grateful though that I am not too down about it. As long as I get a healthy child out of this ordeal, I am truly blessed.
Plus there are perks to this.
When I go in for my next US I'll be around 35 weeks and if she is still breech, then my Dr. and I will schedule my surgery for when I turn 38 or 39 weeks. My water broke with Emme when I was 37 weeks so I'm thinking my Dr. will maybe make it closer to 38 weeks. Again, as long as baby is healthy AND cooked, I'm a happy Mama!
Another perk is I know what to expect. That is huge for me. Only thing is, this time around I will have a 2 year old ; )

I am definitely feeling very pregnant these days. On a scale of 1-10 I think I'm an 8 on how pregnant I feel.
Sleeping is a chore. I could list the many reasons why but I'm 7 months pregnant, I'm sure you can figure it out.
She is getting bigger which means stronger which leads to very strong kicks.
My C-section incision site is getting rocked! It is very tender and when she kicks, it's pretty painful. Since she is breech, guess where her feet are? : )

I have mixed feelings about how fast this pregnancy has been! We have lived in Biloxi for almost 7 months already!! So hard to believe.
Then again, I cannot WAIT to meet this baby. I am ready for her to join and bless our lives. Emme and Daddy are so excited, too.

Oh yeah, we have a name.

I'll let you wait it out a biiit longer, though.

;)

A message for my babies

2011-07-01T09:01:00.001-07:00

Never lose the boundless wonder

*Emmelyn watching Airplanes

Spring cleaning list complete!

2011-06-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

I just noticed the list I had hanging on the fridge is finally complete!
Yes, it took all Spring.
To be fair, I did turn a harmless Spring cleaning list into a nesting, particular, pregnant woman's "must be done perfect" list.

The two in particular that became the tedious tasks of the list was the setting up of the nursery and the photo albums/picture project. Each of those tasks alone became a list in itself.
The nursery is almost complete! A few decorations to hang and as soon as we figure out the name, I will hang letters over the crib to complete the room. Wheew- It's a good thing we have 10 weeks left!

Emme's room made the cut too!
It is finally complete! (pictures, curtains, and signs hung)

I know I'll create about 50 more things to do before baby arrives...
but for now, I am very happy with the no junk drawer, uncluttered, label marked house I keep.

"There is a place for everything"- Me.

:)

A picture of pictures

2011-06-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

That is probably why I have over 2000 pictures taken in the last 2 1/2 years to sort.

I just can't say no to any pictures I take. I want to give them all a nice home.

I take my sim card full of 600 images promising myself I will print at MOST half.
I come home an hour later with about 559 new pictures.
I need help.
I have 30+ pics of the same pose. Ask me to narrow that pose to one? Might as well ask me to pick my favorite child.
I just can't do it. (although, to be fair and honest, Emme wins bc I haven't met miss no name yet ;)

So here I am, a month into this picture project. Sorting, writing detailed descriptions- sometimes 30 times on the same 30 looking poses- while putting them into beautiful photo albums. Which, by the way, aren't cheap - which makes my problem worse because I am very frugal.

I am determined to finish this task in the next month though! Preferably before baby comes or I swear it'll never get done. I am about 70% done giving all the pictures a nice, warm home in their very own adorable albums.

I hope I am able to get a grip on my snap happy finger soon or at least fix my inability to delete ANY photos.
Then again, there will be two precious little girls in the house soon.

I think I'm going to lose this one.

* Picture taken about half way through my picture project*

Staying cool in the Summer

2011-06-28T07:20:00.000-07:00

Let's face it. Summer is freggin miserable in Biloxi. We knew that coming in, but man, how quickly you forget how hot this place gets.
Summer technically started a little over a week ago and so far, it's been what we've thought. To tell you the truth, I thought Summer started at least a month ago. So it was to my surprise when I found out it just started.
We are determined to not let 100 degree 100 percent humidity get in our way of fun! I've been snapping some pictures of just how much fun we can have while staying nice and cool... for the toddler AND the preggers ;)

Ok. We have some AH-mazing neighbors! We are pretty much the only two families left on our whole street! They are in the house directly to the left of us so it's nice to have them close by. Eric and I came out one afternoon to see what some strange noise was, only to find this beast! It is a massive 40 ft duel inflatable water slide! The couple decided instead of spending money on going on a 10 year anniversary trip, they would buy this for their two Boys. That's love. Emme is welcome anytime to play and the boys are SO respectful and play SO well with her. Seriously, what kid gets to have their own 40 ft water slide??? :)

Emmers figuring out the stairs

Blue lips after eating a Blue Popsicle

Loves those stairs but hates the spraying water at the top

Going up

Sliding down

The tunnel- her favorite place to hide and scare the boys

Having a ball

Next, what kid doesn't love bubbles??
To say my kid is a little obsessed with them is definitely an understatement.
We let her play with them as rewards for such things as cleaning the entire living room, going to the bathroom on the potty, and asking her to sit still in church so we "can go home and play with bubbles". She loves them.

We stay nice and wet during bubbles to keep cool (and Mama gets to water the backyard)

She thinks it's hilarious when she drinks from the hose. She says she's silly.

This next place in an absolute God send. For only $5, my toddler can partake in all the bouncy fun castles she can handle. Monkey Joes is a little bit of a drive, but so worth it. It has a parents center with computers and lounge chairs and of course it's nice and cool. Emme wasn't happy with it at first when Mama said she couldn't go in the castles with her because of Baby Sissy, but learned real quickly that either she plays by herself or we go home. We try and go there at least once a week. She likes to tell me stories of Monkey Joes daily, probably just in case I might forget to take her.

She loves it when Daddy comes - he can do all the fun things with her :)

Next, we have the pool!
We got memberships to a gym not too long ago and with it comes unlimited access to their sweet outdoor pools. They have a kiddie pool that is about 1 1/2 ft deep so little ones can splash around without parents having to hold them. They have a lap pool that Eric uses a lot and they have a regular pool that Emme and I use the most. We like to go to the pool about 3 times a week. She is learning to "swim" by kicking her feet and moving her arms while we support her belly. She floats around the pool using a few noodles and gets angry when we come close to her to try and help. That's cool because Mama relaxes while working on a sweet maternity swimsuit tan ;)

Emme in the kiddie pool splashin around

Daddies are the best for pool fun!

Yes, I know Mississippi is hot.
Yes, I know I'm going to be pregnant the rest of the summer.

Keeping entertained during the hottest of days is a cinch with our family ;)

Whos got 1 thumb and a new rank??

2011-06-23T20:25:00.001-07:00

THIS GUY!!!

Found out bright and early this morning that my wonderful Husband made TSgt!
I am so happy for his accomplishment!
Okay- time to brag a little...

He made it by 17 points and was the 15th Selectee in Weather.
This was his 2nd time testing but 1st time studying.
When he would have downtime, he would always choose studying. I could never have enough discipline to chose that over my shows!
He did that for 4 solid months.

I am so proud of our little family, the last couple weeks leading up to the test was "crunch time" to fit in all the studying he could and we worked great as a team! I would have him go upstairs to our room, lock the door, and have all the concentration he needed to fully focus. It was Emme and I by ourselves for those 2 weeks basically.
He took the test back in March, the AF came out with the results today, and he doesn't sew on his stripes for a full year! What a tease!
We went to a ceremony today to celebrate with the rest of the people who made this rank on Keesler AFB and it had such high energy in the room. This is a very tough rank to make, so you could see in everyone's faces just how happy they were to make it.

Congratulations Hunny on your news!
I'm glad you were able to prove something this big to yourself by buckling down and giving it your 100% attention. I hope you feel so good about all your hard work!

I knew you would make it ;)
xoxoxo

A little ones 1st time Bowling

2011-06-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a chance and thought Emme might dig Bowling now that she is a little older.
Boy was it great success!
She went ballistic!
I wish so badly I would have brought the video recorder along with the camera!!
(Next time I for sure will)
I am glad though, we caught her genuine reaction in the pictures below.
They went a little something like this:

Emme and her Blue 6 lb ball. She is getting very good with her primary colors and as soon as the employee came over with the ball she said "Oooh big Blue ball!" It was sweet. She was sad to say goodbye to "Emme's Ball" after the games.

Can you tell she was excited to get to throw her first ball?? :D

Daddy helped her with the first few turns. She wouldn't let us help her after she got the hang of it.

Emme's first throw and it got all the pins but one!

"Yay yay yay!"

Emmers clapping for herself :D

What a good listener was had, too! She was very good about waiting her turn after Mommy and Daddy went. It lasted about 1/2 the game then she wanted to go every turn.

All by herself (no she never dropped the ball, either ;) they didn't have shoes in her size.

Love this pic!

When she would throw the ball by herself it would go so slow down the lane so she decided to lay down while she waited for it to reach the pins. haa.

Emmers dancing to the music, as always! We have a dancing machine!

We call this her "Booty Dance" so freaking cute!!

Mooshky and Mama. I love this girl with all my heart!

Mama won the first game and had to sit out the second. I think Baby Sissy wanted in on the fun, she was kicking like crazy!

We played 2 games and had a blast with her! Seeing your baby grow up is a hard thing, but fun big girl days like these make it worth it.

After bowling we played arcades and won enough tickets to trade them for a whoopie cushion, a sucker, and pink vampire teeth :D

What a perfect Saturday with my beautiful family!

A great Man once said...

2011-06-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

6 years and counting

2011-06-12T18:55:00.001-07:00

It's been 6 years!

wowzers.

They are really going by fast now.

Having a family I'm sure has something to do with that.

Unfortunately, the stars were aligned just right where no one was able to watch Emme for us. So we made due, and she went along with us on our hot date.

We tried a new Hibachi grill restaurant and fell in LOVE with it. We both agree it's even better than the place we loved in Texas, called Nami's. That's a pretty big deal, bc we loved Nami's.

Emme loves when we go to any Hibachi place ( and we love it too). She sits still, listens well, and interacts with the chef while he cooks. She gets a big kick out of it.

We had a great date and it ended up being a great night. Eric and I topped the evening off with a child asleep in her bed while we watched a movie.

I am so grateful for my Husband and all he does for our family.

Thank you for being everything I need in life.

*wanna see something cool? scroll back up to the picture and look at the clock on the wall. It broke a couple years ago and my Sister came up with a good idea of setting the "time" to our anniversary. 6/10

25 1/2 weeks

2011-06-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

Here is little no name with her beautiful profile and her hulk hand :D

I LOVE my Dr and since I'm high risk, I have to get a growth scan ultrasound every month until she is born. The Doctor is very professional and you can tell she really loves her job. She was so sweet to Emme and carried on a full conversation with her to get her involved. I don't think Emme has ever talked to anyone that much besides family. When the US was almost over, Dr Baacke found little girls hand so she could show Emme her baby sissy was waving goodbye to her.

Everything is checking out PERFECT! Baby is measuring exactly to how far along I am. She weighs 1lb 12oz. And she is a MOVER! Holy cow she is an active one! I couldn't be happier with the progress and how smooth this pregnancy has been.
Baby's head is down, too! This may be silly to hear to other Mom's since it is still so early and the baby can do flips, etc.
My uterus is so special it does things differently!
It is shaped very odd and in most cases the baby stays either head up or head down during the remainder of the pregnancy.
This is why we are ecstatic baby girl is head down right now.
Ultimately it means I can have a safe, Vaginal birth this go round.
I go back for another US in a month and Dr says if she is still head down, it is a very good chance she will stay that way.
I will be 27 weeks in one more week which means I'll be in my 3rd and last trimester!

Let the heartburn begin!! (more than It has already)

99 days to go!!!!!!!!!!

Oh-
WE STILL NEED A NAME!!

Seriously, I am losing sleep over this. haha

Memorial day weekend in Pensacola

2011-06-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

Eric and I have a lot of fond memories of this place.
It's the best beach we have been to (besides California's, of course)
This was the first time for Emme to visit Florida and go to their beautiful beaches!
We made a weekend of it and stayed at the Naval Base in their beautiful hotel.
We had access to a beach right outside our room.
It. was. glorious.

Emme all greased up with sunscreen ready to play.

The beach in the back of the hotel

Burying Daddy

Emme's turn to be burried

We all had a blast and relaxed on this fun mini vacation.
I also got to try out my sexy new maternity bathing suit ;)

Oh yeah, it's official, Emme doesn't sleep ANYWHERE but her own room in her own bed.
She was the last one to fall asleep at 1230 and the first one up at 6am!
(we are getting a two bedroom family room on our next visit just for the little princess..)

Other than that- AH-MAZING trip we can't wait to make on our next 3 day weekend!!

Something worth sharing

2011-06-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

I follow this blog and I absolutely love his honest way of writing. If you are a parent, go check out his newest post

www.danoah.com

(title of post : Parents, Have Better Moments)

It's like she's Two or something

2011-06-02T07:16:00.001-07:00

"What's this Mommy??"

Now multiply that by about 300 and that's how many times she asks that per day.

I LOVE it.

She is mimicking EVERYTHING we say (and she's getting really good at making the proper sounds, too).

My little sponge :D

What if

2011-05-16T10:23:00.001-07:00

"What if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday?" - Author Unknown

Just another day in paradise

2011-05-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

We love us some Festivals!
This one was small and humble, but walking distance from our house!
It was a big deal for Emme, she was able to go on the rides for the first time
She had an absolute blast!!

See for yourself-

Daddy told E to put her hands up! Whoooo!

Daddy and Emme in the "Apple", as E would call it.

Daddy being silly with his girl.

More rides!!

Permanent grin on that face

Hands up!

Playing some soccer after the Festival (and after running out of tickets)

There she goes!

We can't wait for her to join her first team.

Making Daddy proud

She wanted Mama to play. I ended up kicking one right to the side of her face. I ruin everything... haha. It's a good thing she is the toughest little girl I know and she brushed it right off and went right back to playing...with Dad. Mom sat back down.

We have so much fun with this precious girl.

** I can't believe I almost forgot to say they has the YUMMIEST Mexican tacos there. I was in Heaven!!

Mama's Helper

2011-05-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

I love my Big Helper.

She will (most days) help me with anything Mommy is doing.

She cleans up her toys while singing "The Cleanup Song" Daddy taught her, with the cutest attitude about it... again, most days :)

So let me set up what happened the other day.
I was just finishing washing the pots and pans, when Emme pulled up her chair to help me.
I let her stand with me at the sink and "wash dishes" as long as she wants to and she loves it.
**This little girl in another life would have loved to be a Mermaid, she can't get enough to do with water.

With a few of her plastic dishes left in the sink, I let her go at it while I went into the laundry room to switch out some clothes.
I came back into the Kitchen to find this...

"Bath Mama, Bath".

She was entertained for a good hour in there.

Best part is-
I finished the laundry without having my big helper undo what I just folded.

This little girl loves water.

Mothers Song

2011-05-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

My heart is like a fountain true

that flows and flows with love to you

as chirps the lark unto the tree

so chirps my pretty babe to me

There is not a rose wherever I seek

as comely as my baby's cheek

there's not a comb of honey bee

so full of sweets as babe to me

There's not a star that shines on high

is brighter than my baby's eye

There's not a boat upon the sea

can dance as baby does to me

No silk was ever spun so fine

as is the hair of baby mine

My baby smells more sweet to me

than smells in spring the elder tree

A little fish swims in the well

So in my heart does baby dwell
A little flower blows on the tree
My baby is the flower to me

Ten thousand parks where deer do run

Ten thousand roses in the sun

Ten thousand pearls beneath the sea
My babe more precious is to me.

-Unknown

Stupid Dora Bike

2011-05-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

I couldn't wait for the day to come where we all pile into the car, drive down to the local Walmart, and get our little girl her first bike!!

What a great day I envisioned us all having.

She has shown interest in wanting a bike for a while now.
I have shown that same interest. Eric and I couldn't wait for that big moment.

So we loaded Daddy, Mommy, and Emmers in the car and headed to Walmart and off we went. There were a bunch of different models and options to choose from. Only problem was you couldn't try them out in the store as the tricycles were in boxes. (we decided tricycle for the first bike).
We went with our gut and got the one that said ages 2-5 thinking since she is 2 1/2 she should fit easily.
What a glorious bike for a 2 year old too! It literally had all the bells and whistles. Dora the Explorer themed, with so many buttons and flashes lights that even spoke 2 languages! Pretty impressive if you asked me. Emme was in love and couldn't wait to get her new toy home.

Now comes assembly.

To make a very long, frustrating story short, we finally got that damn thing built. In between getting it home and getting it built we ended up having to exchange the bike for a different one as the first one was.....erhmmmm.... deffective. (I'll spare the embarrassing details that involves my sweet Husband and his way of putting things together.. love ya babe).

SO- we have the Dora bike built. Emme skipped her nap, she was waaay too excited to sleep while we put it together. But what happens when a 2 year old good sleeper doesn't nap? horrible, wouldn't wish on your worst enemy things...

She was done being patient waaay before we got the first bike home. So keeping her occupied while we fought and lost battles with the trike, was needless to say, a challenge.

We took the trike outside, had emme dressed in full gear included her fancy panda helmet, and she was ready to try it out!

The big moment!!

Aaaand...
she can't reach the pedals.

*cue mom and dad throwing an absolute tantrum in their heads*

We've already taken one half built trike back... what do we do with a fully built one??
- That took blood, sweat, tears, and timeouts to build????

We're going to return it, that's what.

Just not today. This kind of thing needs time to heal.

Maybe we'll kick it old school and wait until her 5th or 6th birthday to get her first bike. You know, back in the day when you had to earn things and use the pennies you saved from countless chores to help pay for it??

Probably not. She'll get another toy to replace the trike she is not big enough for.

We lose. Again.

Trip to Utah

2011-05-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful vacation I had.
Eric and I came up with a plan a couple months back and we made it work!

The plan was, Eric stay home with Emme for a few days while I fly to Utah to spend time with some family. It turned out to be a win win for both of us. Eric had very special bonding time with the boogs while I got a nice break and was able to see people I love!

He took off work and I booked the ticket- it was official!

I flew in to Salt Lake City and stayed for 5 full days.
In my trip I stayed with my Sister, Holly and was able to see some very special people.
I went to a play she was in called Pirates of the Carribeaner and she was AWESOME!
I also got to go to and art show at BYU with my Dad and his new wife (whom I met, finally! Great Lady!!) It was breathe taking!
We ate the most delicious ice cream after and enjoyed SNOW falling!
I packed sandals and NO jackets for this trip. Whoops.
It was a nice change of weather that I welcomed though, I run hot, so the snow felt niiice.
Sunday, all the family that was in the area got together and had a big dinner. It was so nice to just relax and laugh with everyone.
Monday Holly and I ate yummy sushi and walked around a beautiful outside mall before caching a movie.
My absolute favorite of the trip was when Holly and I walked around Temple Square and went into the visitor center. The temple is so gorgeous in the spring with fresh smelling tulips and their gorgeous colors. I felt the spirit so strong there.
It looked a Little something like this.. It barely does it justice..

The trip was such a blessing and something I very much needed. I needed to feel the spirit that strong and be around family.

I did miss Eric and Emme so very much though. I have never been away from both of them at the same time before. I wish they could have been there at Temple Square with me. We will make that trip as a family next time, and it will happen.

Eric had an amazing time with Emme and he did such a great job with her. I love my Husband!

I love my little family at home but I'm so glad I got the chance to visit extended family.

Calling baby a "She"

2011-04-29T09:17:00.001-07:00

To continue and add to the last post, yes, we are having a girl!!

Emmers now says "Hi Sissy!" instead of "Hi Baby"

We found out very early yesterday morning. We had a very good Doctor do the ultrasound and she was very accommodating to my many questions.

She said everything expecting parents want to hear and more.

Beautiful heartbeat.

Beautiful growth that is right on track.

NO calcium deposits on the heart (we had that scare with Emme).

Placenta is nice and high in the womb.

HEAD IS DOWN

ALL AROUND HEALTHY AND BEAUTIFUL BABY

That last couple are pretty important if I want to proceed with a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean)

You'll see me refer to that term a bunch as I am still on the fence if I'm going to do it.

I want to, don't get me wrong. I don't wish that kind of surgery on ANYONE, let alone a new Mom who never so much has even had a freakin IV in her life.

I still have to have the important sit down discussion with my Dr and weigh the pros and cons about it. I have done hours of research online myself about it, but a drs advice and my own intuition gets the final say.

Eric filmed the U/S and got the reaction of all of us finding out baby is a "She".

I had severe mixed emotions and my heart was beating so so fast.

I have said from day one that I was so excited either way with the gender.

As the Dr told us baby was definitely a she by showing us those 3 distinctive lines, so many racing thoughts ran in this order:

" :( it's not a boy"

"good. they are scary"

"but I kinda thought I wanted a boy"

"are you sure you did Liz??"

"yeah, but girls are so precious"

"She was meant for us"

"oh my goodness, I'm having another girl"

"I am so excited Emme gets a Sister!"

"sisters"

"best friends"

"fighting"

"best friends again"

" They are going to watch out for each other"

"Wow. What a blessing to have another Girl"

This all took place is a split second it seemed.

The dr finished what she needed to do and wrapped up the U/S rather fast.

She left the room.

Eric and I laughed then hugged then cried.

Happy tears of course.

We we're beaming on the ride home and kept asking Emme the same question

"Do you love your baby Sister??"

I think we just liked her "Yeeeah" response and the sound of the phrase most.

So here we have it! Our little girl is due is 19 weeks and we couldn't be more elated to have her in our lives and have her complete the Jaeger family.

Now for a name....

We are having a.....

2011-04-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

We are thrilled to say we are expecting a GIRL!!!!!

SO so so happy Emme is having a Sister!!

Strawberry or Blueberry??

2011-04-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

We find out in the morning...

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

What an amazing Easter weekend we had!

Saturday we went to a park on Base where they had a quick fun egg hunt. Emme got to meet the Easter bunny too!

Daddy and Emmers waving to Easter Bunny from the fire truck

Having some fun at the park after the hunt

Making Easter eggs

Patiently waiting as they turn colors

Her first year coloring eggs!

The finished product

So proud of her Eggies :D

Emmers basket ready to be hidden in the house by Daddy. Following a tradition he had as a kid.

Easter Morning

Eating sour jelly beans

Trying out her new princess shoes

Playing with daddy with her new fishing pole

Egg hunt after church

My beautiful Girl

Happy Easter everyone!

He is risen

2011-04-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way.” Elder Bruce R McConkie

My favorite LDS woman shared this on her FB profile today and it was all I needed to be in the Easter Sunday spirit we all should feel.

I am so thankful to my Savior for his atoning sacrifice. For giving us the gift we needed to return to our Heavenly Father.
He lives!

*Also*

I am thankful for my blessed family near and far.
I am so grateful for my Daughter, my Husband, and our blessing on the way.
I am grateful to have my Church and our friends we can turn to at any time.

I feel dumb now

2011-04-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

Guess who is fast asleep in her big girl bed?

Yep- the same girl I thought would put up a fight for weeks.
It literally took her a day and a half to accept, then LOVE her new bed.

We have a pretty solid routine before bedtime, and like any kid- she craves structure.

We settle down with a bath (most days.. okay at least once a week) followed by brushing her teeth with a cool Dora electric toothbrush, then lotion her with some sweet smelling goodness.
We then put some PJ's on and read 1-23 books depending on how tired Mama or Daddy is that night. We say a family prayer, tuck her in with her "Mimi Mouse", and give her 2... yes, I said 2 binkis (she holds one in her hand and sucks on one at night) *sigh* speaking of which- that is next on the list of things to break..sometime soon...hopefully.
The last part is my favorite (second to her falling right to sleep of course)..
She says an understandable "I love you" right before we turn the lights off.

All of us dig this new nightly routine.

Eric and I then top of that good night with some shows on our good friend, DVR.

*Simple Wednesday night bliss

It has finally happened.

2011-04-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

Emme has climbed out of her bed.

All she had to do was throw a leg over basically. That's how easy it was for her. That's how easy it could have been for months.

We have officially lived in Biloxi for 4 months now and her pack and play sleeping arrangement turned from temporary to "let's just wait until she can climb out".

It's exciting and scary at the same time. We have had her "big girl" room set up for her since we moved in and I couldn't wait for her to finally use it.

It's scary because she is honestly the.best.sleeper. she sleeps 12-13 hours straight at night with a solid 2 hour nap in the day.

Now that she has her "freedom" she can decide how long she sleeps now.

She falls to sleep right away after putting her down. When shes awake, she hollers out to Mama and I'm there withing a minute. I think that's a big reason why she never even tried to climb out the pack and play. She knew I was always coming to get her and she felt safe in her bed.

When she did climb out the other night, it was bc she was not happy she was in there.
We had the Bishop over and she was throwing a full blown f.i.t so after so many failed bribes and her not settling down, we put her in her bed and she went even more hysterical. About a min later we heard her door open and Eric and I looked at each other and knew from then on it was game over. The pack and play will be packed away.

She did so well her first time sleeping in her new bed. She took her normal 2 hour nap yesterday. But then.
But then last night/this morning was a different story.

2am I heard "Mama" close to my door so I jumped up knowing it was little missy not in her room. I found her half way down the unlit stairs. I picked her up heading right back to her room. That is, until I kissed her forehead. Scorching. Like how is she not having seizures kinda hot. Yesterday she had an on and off temp of 99 but nothing a little Tylenol didn't help. I ran downstairs with Emme on hip and found the ear thermometer and it was saying she had a 103 temp! I woke Eric up and had him run to Walmart to get Motrin and more Tylenol while I stripped her down to put in a cool bath. She loved it. Crazy girl. Only Emme would like a cold bath. This girl loves water I tell ya. She was shivering and chattering her teeth all while playing "fishes" with her toys just laughing away. I kept telling her she was in a pool not a bath and she liked that. Daddy made it home while I was toweling off the sicky. We gave her medicine and read about 10 books to her and she was thrilled. About 3:30am is when we tried to coax her back to her "big girl bed" and she wanted nothing to do with it. So I did it. I slept in the bed with her. Any other night I would have not but she still had a little bit of a temp and I didn't want to leave her alone. I said a prayer and started singing songs that she loved. At 4am her fever broke. Hallelujah. Now to get her back to sleep. After 4 trips back and forth between her room and mine, she finally fell asleep in my arms on her bed. I did the ol' hug and roll and got out of that room as quietly as I could manage. Success! She slept until 8 am. She woke up crying and I didn't blame her. You could tell she didn't know where the heck she was nor did she feel good so it wasn't a good mix. She has already spent an hour on the stairs just sobbing wanting nothing to do with food or Mama. I let her cry it out and turned on Dora to bribe her down the rest of the stairs. Half an episode in she is now lying on the floor eating a protein bar with some milk.

Her fever is gone (for now) but I know I have a full day ahead of me.

All in all-

A sick child + trying to transition so child into a new bed = disaster.

She has made her way up to the couch and is attempting to snuggle so I should end it on that sweet note.

How to keep your house clean when you have small children

2011-04-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

You can't.

16 weeks pregnant

2011-03-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

Do you know what my favorite part of this picture is?

Emme staring at Mama.

So far in this pregnancy I am truly blessed!!

It has been a breeze for the most part.

Here are the not so fun parts: (but I will still gladly take over what I experienced last preganacy)

I get ligament pains every now and then and pee every 30 min

I am officially all the way into maternity clothes- although that should be in the "plus" catagory bc maternity clothes are freaking awesome.

I still wake up in the middle of the night lying on my stomach followed by a mini panic attack that I just cut off supply to my baby and killed it. Then I roll over to my side and fall back asleep.

Here are the FUN parts:

**Not having horrible syptoms!!

Emme kissing and rubbing my belly.

Having energy back (2nd trimester is famous for "the most energenic trimester out of the 3")

Seeing my belly grow.

Eric getting me things that are yummy to eat (usually whenever I want them)

My cravings are for soup and water with lemon so I'm not gaining hardly any weight! (I know it's very early on though. haha.)

Prenatal Vitamins are doing wonders for my nails!!

All in all, I am one happy pregnant lady!

So far, so good!

Thank you Baby for taking it easy on your Mama so far...

I will make you my favorite if you keep it that way ;)

***Exactly 30 days until we find out what we're having!***

Emme and Dolly

2011-03-29T05:33:00.000-07:00

Emmelyn and her Dolly ready for Church

I wish Mama can say she made the dresses.. At least we got a good deal on them!

Speaking of Church, Emme has been doing so well!

For the most part, she sits still during Sacrament meeting.

Her other class is Nursery where at 18 months old they start learning the importance of church and of Family and always do fun activies and of course snack time. She goes to this class for about 1 hr 45 min while Mama and Daddy attend their classes.

She LOVES when the congregation starts singing and says "yay!" when a talk or song is over (you are supposed to be reverent and not clap afterwards) It's cute and she still gets a ton of smiles from people when she does it.

She grasped onto the concept of prayer pretty fast, although we see her sneaking goldfish from her bowl during them. Stinker :D

So far the entire family is enjoying attending Church every Sunday. It has been an adjustment for us, but at the end of the day we are so happy we are doing it. The dressing Emme is pretty dresses part is not bad either ;)

Dauphin Beach, AL

2011-03-22T16:18:00.001-07:00

100th post!!!

2011-03-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

I've been looking forward to this special post because I knew I was going to make it about something special!

Do you want to know what is absolutely amazing in my life right now?

Emmelyn is peeing in her potty!!

Like, all the time.

I told you it was amazing.

PS Although, she did poop on the carpet tonight.

Baby steps.

Coming Home

2011-03-07T06:25:00.000-08:00

It's about time someone made a show about military families and their reunions.

Thank you, Lifetime.

If you didn't catch it, it premiered last night at 9pm.

I knew going into watching the show I would be an emotional mess.

What I didn't expect was how it physically hurt to cry. I had to hold back what I actually wanted to do, which was a loud sob. Emme was sleeping.

Unfortunately you can't understand the true emotions fully unless you are the ones going through it.
But this show does an excellent job with getting close. The look in the faces and how tight the hugs were. How emotional a wife was just trying to explain to the host how she is scared by the sound of the doorbell if she isn't expecting anyone. Yeah, you can actually feel their pain. It hurt to cry.

My personal favorite part of the show was when a little boy had a surprise reuniting with his Dad in a special medieval times way. In the middle of saying his hello, he stopped hugging his Dad, looked him in the eyes and said "But are you coming home with us after this?" The little boy knew, after years of living the military life, sometimes you only get a quick hello or goodbye. When Dad reassured him he was coming home with him, his face lit up all over again. It was so pure. It was so beautiful. At the same time your heart ached for them.

Yet the hardest part of the show is keeping your eyes dry long enough to actually watch it.

I love watching people shake hands of service men and women. I'd love to see more hugs given to the children and spouses of those serving. It would mean more to them than you know. It means that YOU understand what they go through even if you don't understand fully, you get it.

I hope you tune in this week for the new episode and see what I am trying so hard to explain.

I appreciate and love you all who support our amazing troops and families.

2 year check-up for Ms Emmelyn

2011-03-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

Emme's appointment was a success!

She weighs in at 25.5 lbs and 35 in tall

She is still very shy around people that want to come into her "bubble"

As the doctor was checking her she clung to Mama but let her do what she needed.

We brought our handy little drs kit from home so Emme could play along but she wanted nothing to do it with :)

She did not receive any vaccinations this time.

Something about coming from an Army post to an Air Force base, the charts for Emme either didn't get transferred or something. So what that means is Keesler doesn't have any records of her vaccinations. Which means more phones calls for me to make to figure this out to make sure she is up to date.

I always knew boogie was a good sleeper but her doctor was amazed with how good she really is. I am one happy and proud Mama. *who gets amazing sleep herself, finally.*

Oh I just hope the next baby follows in their sister's footsteps :D

We topped off the Dr visit with a car wash on the way home and we shared a packet of skittles while we waited for "car to take a bath".

Hello Beautiful

2011-03-03T12:54:00.000-08:00

It's very nice to meet you.

Daddy, Big Sissy, and Mommy all saw and heard your little heartbeat.

A whopping 170 beats per min!!

Grandma says that means you're a girl ;)

Dr says you look right on track with your growth and perfect!

You even gave us a little wave.

Can't wait to give that hand a high five,

And many many kisses.

We are all so in love already.

Gonna keep it short

2011-02-25T05:38:00.000-08:00

Basically-

All is fixed with Tricare.

I can't believe what it took to get it fixed.

I'm. just. happy. it. is.

Emmers now has her 2 year vaccination appointment set for Thursday.

Mama can breathe now.

*Another fun mention...

I have my first Ultrasound March 1st!!

We get to see baby!!

Can't wait to show off new baby's first pictures.

Updates

2011-02-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

Real quick:

GOOOD news on the house. The plumber came out to fix the pipe that caused the water damage, only to not find anything wrong with any of the pipes. It's a freakin' miracle! Seriously, he have a weird explanation on what could have happened, but I still couldn't believe it! The only damage so far is the warped floorboard, which won't be a huge cost and the co-payment fee for the plumber coming out which was the $40 I talked about earlier!

Seriously. So happy!

The Tricare mess is still getting worked out, so we'll see on that one.

Just thought I'd share the good news and we'll just leave the tricare for another day ;)

Does anyone else find this funny??

2011-02-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

I am officially on call number 20-30-something to the Tricare office to take care of myself and Emme's new Primary Care Manager. We have to be assigned a new one each time we move. Which we have never had any problem with.

Until-

You guessed it.

This move.

Not a single one of the 15-20 different Tricare Service Center People have been confident in the information they give me. Why should they have been? It ended up being wrong what little they did tell me.

I would hunt down the person who did say " Look this is EXACTLY what you need to do to fix this and there is nothing more I can do on my end, I promise" and I would give them a big fat kiss.

This last phone call was the knee slapper of them all though.

Emme is now 2 months past her 2 year check up and vaccinations.

I tell them how urgent it is that she is seen and, again, it seems like they can give two poops about it.

So lets wrap up the problem that we're having in a nut shell.

Emme and I were assigned a PCM to a Navel Base about 40 min away from our house. That's not good for many reasons. The most important being, We can't even GET ON THE DAMN BASE! You have to have a certain sticker on the car (which we can't obtain) to even get on the base!

So after telling the lady that I have missed two appointments so far bc we can't get on the base, she then tells me this....

wait for it...

"All you have to do is go to the base, put in a request to be seen by Keesler AFB" (where we are assigned and should have originally went).

I wanted to explode.

are you kidding me???

"Let me get this straight. You want me to go onto the Navel Base that I just said I couldn't get on, to then fill out a form??".

"Yes, they are the only ones who have authority to release you".

She said that like it was the most matter of fact thing like "the sky is blue".

"BUT I CAN'T GET ON THE BASE".

"Hmmm, well that could be a problem."

Oh. my. shriek., did she seriously not listen to a word I said??

She then said "Well let me put you on hold and I'll do the request for you".

During the time I was on hold, I went through a 30 sec roller coaster of emotion. I was livid. Then I started laughing which then turned to crying. At least I always feel better after I do. I had enough time to dry it up and not sound pathetic before she returned though.

Instead of asking her why she didn't offer me that in the first place I just ended with a simple "thank you" and we said our goodbyes.

She informed me to call back in 2 days to see if the request went through- which, let's face it, won't.

But seriously,

Did she really just tell me to go on the base to fill out a form??

HA. HA.

I told you it was funny.

My Valentimes Day

2011-02-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

I think I'm a loved little girl.

BECAUSE:

I rode my pink pony in the new outfit Daddy bought for me

I went shopping with Mama and got millions of treats today

Then I went outside to play with the cool neighbor kids and played catch with them until it got too cold out.

Mommy told me I'm too young to be embarrassed that I went outside wearing my cool Shamu hat. Whatever that means...

Ate a very yummy dinner at a place where they made a "choo choo" train out of an onion and the fire from the grill almost got me! I ate a ton of fried rice and Mom and Dad were happy that I was eating and sitting still. Then came home and skyped with my family, opened MORE presents and MORE cards, then got in PJ's and danced with Daddy - my favorite thing to do.

Mommy said "I love you" millions more times than usual today.

Daddy couldn't stop hugging me.
It's okay cause I like it when he tickled my back.

I felt very loved today.

Boo for being a Landlord..

2011-02-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

It definitely was not our first choice.

BUT, we were not willing to drop 5-10k to just sell the house.

Sooooo...

We became landlords.

And only 6 weeks into it we got the phone call no landlord wants.

It was Bev, from out realty company.

A pipe broke.

Which then flooded a couple rooms.

:(

Before we knew it, Beverly was off the phone with that little information she gave me and headed over to the house.

In the call however, she managed to dropped some pretty scary words like "Homeowners Claim" and even worse "Out of pocket".

I immediately called Eric to tell him the news. I tried to make it as light as possible.

"What I'm about to tell you is out of our hands and this is the exact reason we have savings".

Didn't matter- he was pretty shocked. I would be too, after all, we have only been renting our house out for 6 weeks.

Eric called me about an hour later reassuring me he realizes these things happen and for us not to worry about it as much as possible. That is until we figured the reason the pipe broke in the first place was probably due to Texas deciding to freeze and have temperatures in the single digits.

So then the question that really erked us was

How the hell do we protect ourselves from other peoples negligence?

Negligence in this case would have been the tenants not running the water when the temps are so so low to prevent the pipes from freezing.

Allegedly.

Well that question got us steaming a little bit.

But then time went by and we ventured BACK to reality and just have to suck up the fact that we are landlords and these situations happen.

Such bullshit. ha.

Fast-forward to 5 pm

Bev called us back and told us so far the only damage is the broken slab pipe (which turns out to be an expensive fix bc it's in the slab??) and a few hardwood floor slats are warped (but they put towels and something very heavy on top to hopefully they will soak up the last bit of water so maybe the warping will go down).

She then told us it's not good for us if it was a frozen pipe.

You see, when we decided to rent our house out, we knew we wanted a Home protection company to cover appliances/ac unit/ pipes/ garbage disposal/ water heater/ etc.

We pay $400 premium a year and we are covered in case Shiteth-hitteth-the faneth.

Which it did.

BUT come to find out our home protection plan doesn't cover if the pipe broke bc it was frozen.
YIKES.

SO we now are praying that it wasn't due to freezing or else out of pocket it is!

Home protection co will asses the damage and let us know today.

Best case scenario is Old Republic (the home protc plan) covers the pipe and fixes it only being a $4o co-pay charge for us.

If it isn't covered we are looking at $800 to fix this damn pipe.

Quite a difference I'd say.

We are relieved though.

Yes, we are.

Earlier we were thinking we'd have to file an insurance claim and pay our deductible of $1000 or worse pay even more out of pocket to avoid using insurance.

So yeah, we are grateful it is an amount we can handle.

*sigh*

The joys of being a homeowner.

Wait til you hear how exciting the 1st visit was

2011-02-09T12:08:00.001-08:00

I filled out paperwork!!!

I also gave yet another pee sample and had my first round of blood drawn.

Some perks about the visit:

*Emme ate a candy cane and a sucker the entire visit keeping her nice and busy.. and sticky.

* I had most of my questions answered (the other ones have to wait til i'm assigned a dr at my next visit)

* The soap I used to wash my hands reminded me of my Grandma's bathroom and that made me happy.

Some not so perks about the visit:

* I thought I was at least going to hear the baby's heartbeat.. but we didn't do that.

* Paperwork and Bloodwork.. boring.

* Finding out my first ultrasound will be March 1st :(
(at least I'll be far enough along to see it moving and doing cool stuff)

All in all is was a good visit though. OB appointments need to start somewhere, right? March 1st will come with more exciting details, I promise.

We're Having a Baby, My Baby and Me

2011-01-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

Daddy, Doggy, Daughter

2011-01-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

Answers for some FAQ's

2011-01-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

YES.

We are thrilled and happy to be pregnant.

YES.

We planned it.

Actually we planned for it a year ago, and actively tried for 7 months, but it wanted to happen now.

I am feeling amazing.
The only symptoms so far are tender girls, and smelling everything under the sun x's 10.

We ARE hoping for a boy this go round.
For some important reasons.

*Carry on the Jaeger name. (Eric is the last boy to have it)
*We have decided to have 2 children so one of each would be great.
*I can't picture myself as a Mom and not having a boy to raise.
ALTHOUGH-
Another girl would secretly make me very giddy.
I LOVE having a girl.
Sisters would be such a blessing.

We have decided on just one more for so many reasons. So many personal, just for our little family to know, reasons.

Here are a few you can know though.
* Moving around and being a Military family is hard enough. Being a Military Child (I hate the word Brat), you have to endure so much in life you need the extra love and support (especially if one parent is gone for an extended time.. then you need EXTRA love).
* Financially, I want to be able to give my Children whatever they need in life. We agree that our modest budget will allow a family of four... plus the Dog and the Cat... Which by the way, are most definitely included in all the following examples as well.
*Emotionally/Mentally, I could expand more but it would fall in the personal, just for our family to know, category ;). You get the idea.. esp if you're a parent.

And finally, I am 6 and a 1/2 weeks along.

Due date so far is September 12th.

My first appointment is set for when I'm 8 weeks along.
Which is bittersweet due to the fact my last pregnancy, 8 weeks was when my sickness started and was in full gear until 14 weeks. I am NOT looking forward to that. There is a chance that it might not happen this go round... but it's pretty fat.

I am so excited to update the blog with more details as they arrive.

Until then.

Tootles

New furniture

2011-01-19T07:30:00.000-08:00

For the new spacious Living Room!

After selling our old furniture on our main man, CraigsList, we still had to wait a week for the new set to be delivered. We camped out on the LR floor with our mattress until then. It was maybe fun for the first night but the rest of the week I felt like a total bum having only the mattress to sit/lie on.

We were happy to finally get them in and we love our new pieces! So comfortable.
The large chair swivels and Emme has a blast playing with it.

*Only downside is it comes with a new strong factory smell and my "pregnancy nose" can hardly stand the smell... that Eric doesn't notice. At. All.

Oh, and here is a random beautiful picture of E watching Dora. :D

My New Year Resolution for 2011

2011-01-06T17:56:00.000-08:00

To grow a perfect healthy baby...

Due September 12th

Day we found out 1/6/11

Most of all- Give her a sibling!!

This crazy girl deserves one!

I.am.so.thrilled.

Our prayers were finally answered and after a while of trying, it FINALLY HAPPENED!

:D!!!!!!!!!

Emme's new outfit

2011-01-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

She is GLOWING in it, huh?

*more blog to follow

(:D !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Steriotypical Dieter

2011-01-05T07:36:00.000-08:00

I started a new diet/excersise routine..

The beggining of a new year...

On a Monday.

PS. There are not any gyms in the area that have child care so I had to be creative with my new workout plan. I am again reminded that we live in the fattest state in the world. I guess I wouldn't waist my money on building a gym... So why would anyone else?

Wish me luck!

AND

Happy 2011!

Happy 2nd Birthday my Little

2011-01-03T08:42:00.000-08:00

They say it goes fast.

I wish someone would have grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me and say

"NO REALLY, LISTEN TO ME... IT. GOES. BY. FAST!"

I think I may have taken it seriously then.

People can give tips and advice all they want, in the end it's up to you to decide what you want to do with it. I knew my little was growing before our eyes everyday, so I HAVE taken thousands of pictures and videos and memories.

She threw us off by keeping her hair short and baby like

And staying in size 12 month clothes for most of the year

And not talking as much

And snuggling and using her Binky...

But. It. Happened.

She is TWO years old now and officially a full grown TODDLER.

Doesn't mean I won't still snuggle and call her my baby, because no matter what, no matter how many babies I have, she will be my number one and therefor, my baby.
It is hard to imagine us with another little one.
I can't possibly imagine loving another as much as I love her.
How do you?
Another piece of advice I have heard is "You just do"
It just seems too easy.

Back to the kid.

She does remind us that she is getting bigger and more independent everyday.

The "No's" are coming out in full swing.
The tantrums are daily, if we're lucky, less than 5 a day.
The refusal to eat anything other than sweets has me worrying constantly.
Tearing up the house and getting into things she knows better is a daily occurrence.

On the other hand. Lets count some blessings.

She loves her cat, Tilly, and is being shown some loving companionship from her doggy, Ace.
She doesn't bite or hardly every hits.
She shows sweet compassion for her baby dolls (and most of the time ,the cat and dog).
Her hugs and kisses, given randomly, are few and far between but when they do occur, it literally still brings tears to my eyes.
She LOVES her Daddy and Mommy and thinks the world of them.

And the later is all that counts, right???
I think so.

Happy Birthday my sweet Girl
And thank you for being something so amazing you make my heart hurt it is full with so much love.
xoxox times a million

Birthday party thrown 2 weeks early for Emme at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Phoenix.
The Ladies
Getting in some family time as much as possible. Here is Emme and one of her favorite Aunt's testing some frosting

Nibbling some frosting off Daddy's nose.

Loving her Jasmine Doll Grandma and Grandpa Shur got her for her birthday. Hello GGma in the picture as well!!