Congratulations all Around!

Congrats to 2 friends who gave birth this week!

Rachel and Jared welcomed their third child (but first daughter) on Sunday, 9/13 at 7:29pm... 8lbs, 13 oz. Welcome Kylie Rae, and congrats Rachel, Jared, Jackson and Jaden!



Congratulations also to the Normans who welcomed their second daughter last night at 11:40pm... She weighed 6lbs 11oa a day after her due date. Emma Catherine was wasn't sure she was ready to be born, but a determined Mommy suffered through a couple of days of post- Castor Oil treatment to get things moving!  Congrats Kristina, Dan, and Audrey!



Some sweet little girlfriends for our little man on the way!

I can't wait to get all of these munchkins together!

Oh, BOY!

Well, we had our 18 week ultrasound yesterday! Everything looks good... They say they did not get enough measurements while we were there, so I get to have another one at the next appointment in a month! The baby is measuring at about 9 ounces and 6 inches from head to backside. It is so hard to imagine that it can be that small and still look like a complete little person! What a miracle!

I imagine the most interesting part for everyone is this...



Can you see the little hand by the head? And...

IT'S A BOY!!!!! Alyssa will have a little brother! We are so excited and a little bewildered at having the whole new experience to look forward to. It should be fun seeing how they are similar and different! He was so busy during the ultrasound. I wonder if he will be as busy as Alyssa after he is born!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

As mentioned in the previous post, I am a slacker. I am 3 weeks overdue in posting congratulations to my dear friends Kimmie and Mark Kingsley on the birth of their son, Thomas Jefferson Kingsley. The adorable little munchkin was welcomed into the most patriotic family I know on July 4th! Unfortunately, Mark was not here in time for the birth due to multiple delays during his return from Iraq (Sandstorms and the like), but he was able to hold his sweet baby before he was 24 hours old. I was lucky enough to meet Thomas the day after he was born and I can't help thinking that I will be doing the same thing in about 6 months! Yikes!

Congrats to the Kingsleys (and D'alessandros, since the grandparents were just as anxiously awaiting his arrival)!

3+1=4

Yes, yes, I know. Slacker. I am sorry, it can't be helped! I have been beyond tired and totally lacking in motivation the last few months because... we are expecting! I have been struggling with first trimester exhaustion and nausea that I did not have the first time around and it has really taken a toll. Add to that the fact that Alyssa has been struggling with the whole sleep routine (as in, difficult to put to bed at night, down for naps, and not sleeping through the night for over a month), I am completely worn out! Thank goodness for a husband who is super at doing housework and taking over kid duties! I am so lucky and thankful to have him! I don't know what I would do if circumstances were different.

I am almost 13 weeks... due date is February 3rd, 2010. We have already been to the first couple of appointments and everything looks good so far. I feel like I might finally be coming out of the perpetual nausea, so yay! Let's hope that things get better from here! I really enjoyed being pregnant with Alyssa and am hoping for the same this time around! Wish us luck!

Birthday Video

She’s 2!!!!

Last Sunday was Alyssa's second birthday. She got to celebrate all weekend... presents every day starting Thursday so she wouldn't be overwhelmed, opening everything all at once. She got lots of great gifts from a bunch of people.

• An Elmo toy and a couple of kids music CDs (thanks DD!)


• All kinds of learning tools... flash cards and workbooks and letter puzzles. She'll be the smartest 2- year- old ever! (Thanks Amy!)


• A laptop for the car that lets her color with water. Yay, no mess! (Thanks, Pam!)


• A super cute bumblebee game and magnetic princess storybook (Thanks, Alli!)


• Frog tub squirters and a set of vehicles to be strung like beads (and yay, there's a "Stoo Bus" in the mix!) (Thanks, Ashie!)


• A wood "paper doll" set and a set of wooden food that can be cut... it actually sounds like you are cutting fresh vegetables because of the velcro! (Thanks, Tula and Poppie!)


• A cute outfit from her friend that she has yet to meet (Thanks, Kristina and Audrey!)


• A slide that has been in the house for the last week, along with a cool playhouse and a huge set of food and pots and pans. (Thanks, Grammie, Grandy, Mommy, Daddy, Tula, Poppie, and Mama!)

She had a great time opening presents and being the princess for the weekend. She had some of her favorite foods for her birthday dinner (corn on the cob, mac and cheese, hot dogs, melon, you name it!) She loves her playhouse and slide so much! We used to get a "Hi!" or "Good Morning!" when we would get her out of her crib after a nap or in the morning, but now all we get is "House?!" She just can't wait to play in it! Thanks to everyone for the great gifts... I can't believe it has already been 2 years!  Check out this Snapshow...

Help!!!!!!!

Please vote for me here... I entered a contest for a design challenge over at http://www.freshnestdesign.com with pictures of our recent update of the paint in the dining room and guess what!?! I am a finalist! Please click the link and vote for #1 Jennie so we can win a toddler bed for Alyssa! If you have a blog and wouldn't mind a shout... please post a link as well! Thanks for the support!

VOTE HERE!

A New Car (Well, really a truck!)

The lease is up on my car, so we've been talking about what to buy to replace it for almost a year. We had settled on a Trailblazer (or something similar) because we'd be able to get a break through Mike's job. He spotted a trade-in a week or so ago and snatched it up! We signed the papers on Thursday afternoon in the fastest deal I have ever participated in (Mike had most of it done ahead of time... I just had to sign). 15 minutes later we were switching my stuff over. Take a look at my new "car!"



It is a 2006 GMC Envoy with lots of bells and whistles... sunroof, leather, power seats, 6- disc in- dash CD changer, chrome wheels, running boards... I love it so far! It is super fun to drive. Alyssa also loves it because she can see so well out of the windows. She is seeing things that she could never see before because her head sat just under the window base in the car. All weekend she has been asking to go in the "new car." What a treat not to have to drag her!

It will be so much nicer on long car trips!

A Fun Week (or so)!

We've been busy lately... a week ago we helped throw a shower for our friend Kimmie who is expecting her first baby in July. I made most of the decorations, and we all helped with the food. Alyssa loved all of the little kids and even managed to jump into a group of girls to get her picture taken with them. She wants to be included in everything! Kimmie got tons of nice gifts and we all had a great time!



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We also enjoyed Mother's Day... Mike and Alyssa gave me some beautiful pink roses and some yummy chocolates and other goodies. I got to pick out some plants for the front of the house (Mike planted them, too!) and then we went to my parents' for the afternoon. We had a super delicious lunch and enjoyed just hanging out. We even took Alyssa to the Lake Benson Park. What a fun weekend!

The following pics are from a few weeks time, and the skinned knees were a while ago... her first! She has been such a big kid lately that she is all dirty when she is done playing outside. The roses are the ones I got for Mother's Day... so pretty! And look who likes con on the cob! This was her first try at it last night, and she wasn't about to let me get away with cutting it off for her when we were eating it off the cob. "Me do it!?!"

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Baby Pool

We got Alyssa a baby pool last weekend. She loved it! She loves to use her watering can and beach toys and pour water from one to the next. She also likes to splash, as long as her face and chest don't get wet! Is is possible for these things to be hereditary? I have always hated to have my face wet. It is always the first thing to hit the towel when I get out of the pool.

There was a bit of an air-retention problem with the first model, but she had fun with it anyway. There are lots of pics... please feel free to stop the slideshow at any time! We had to get her a new one this past weekend... I'll get more pics of that one soon!



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P.S. I am LOVING the warm weather! Thank heaven for Spring!

Leaps and Bounds

Alyssa is changing and growing so quickly these days... she keeps amazing us with her physical capabilities. In the past couple of weeks, she has learned how to climb the ladders at the playground (a huge development... think how physical you have to be to pull your body weight up by your arms. Maybe she'll be a champion rope climber like Tula. Right, Mom?) Just yesterday she decided it is fun to run... fast! She started racing back and forth across the downstairs and yelling "Mommy! Look! Fast! That's Fun!"

I got such a kick out of that and was thinking about this kid that we saw this weekend. He was beyond tickled with himself to find that he had an audience to watch him jump up and down, about 2 inches from the ground. I think he was similar in age to Alyssa, possibly up to a year older. I spent a few minutes trying to show Alyssa how to jump and wondering how to explain something so simple when the vocabulary is so limited! She must have understood me because she was able to jump by the time Mike got home from work! I am so impressed!

Over the weekend I decided to paint Alyssa's toenails. I've been thinking about it for a while. I just didn't think she'd sit still long enough to get them done. I was wrong! She was so tickled that she asked me to do her fingernails, too! I painted my own to match, and although her fingernails need to be redone (apparently the quick- set polish is not pool- resistant even after they feel dry... the paint peeled off by itslef within a half hour), here are our matching toes. Beware... graphic images (if you hate feet, and you know who you are, sis!)

Around the House

Alyssa and I have been able to keep my friend Laura's baby, Jack a few times on Friday mornings. Alyssa looks forward to these visits in a big way! She talks about it for days before (if we tell her he is coming) and for days after.

Recently, she has been carrying the Cabbage Patch doll that Betty gave her for her birthday last year... she's been spending lots of time pushing her around in the stroller and dressing and undressing her. As of this weekend she has given the doll a name... Baby Gack (that's how she pronounces his name)!

The doll wears pink and purple, but Mike says it looks more like a boy anyway because of the hair.

She just can't get enough of Baby Jack!

I found some more pics on my camera... a messy girl who had just enjoyed licking some chocolate-y beaters,  her first skinned knees, matching Mommy and Baby aprons, and unloading the dishwasher. Remember I told you how much she likes to help with housework?



Click on the link to see the Slideshow!

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Easter Weekend… so lovely!

We had such a great Easter weekend... lots of extra playtime at the park (I still can't get used to the idea of having Mike home on holidays... a 3- day weekend is such a treat!) in the pretty weather, shopping, church, lunch, playing cards and hanging with the family. We really enjoyed watching Alyssa hunting for eggs and entertaining everyone with her new vocabulary. Now, if you say it, she will repeat it. We had a blast getting her to say things that sound so much cuter in her squeaky, nearly two- year- old voice!

My parents (aka, the Easta Bunny!) got Alyssa a huge pile of goodies... new books and toys AND great new gardening tools so she can help Poppie in the garden. She love raking the carpet and carrying her tools around the house. The funniest part of the whole thing was that she liked to ride around in her basket (it was a wheeled gardening bucket) while being pushed by Alli... wait'll you see the pics!

Another fun situation involved Ashleigh's dog. Alyssa is generally interested in dogs, but we have found that she gets nervous when they come up close. Most of the dogs that live around us are bigger than her, and many of them are lickers (she doesn't like to be licked... she says "eeew, gwoss!"), so she doesn't really like to get too close. Ashleigh brought her dog Leah, to my parents' for Easter, though, and we saw a huge change in Alyssa by the middle of the afternoon! At first, she was nervous and shy, mostly running away from Leah. Later in the day, though, she was chasing the dog and calling "EE-ah" (in true toddler fashion, this was playing like a broken record by the end of the day!) She and Mike even took Leah out for a walk, by the end of which, Alyssa was holding the leash! She gave the poor puppy the workout of her life, and Leah was running away from Alyssa by the time we left! Unfortunately, we were all too preoccupied with watching it happen and playing the family- favorite game of Shanghai Rummy (I got the high score of the day, and the object of the game is to have the lowest... go me!) to remember to get any pictures. Sorry... just let your imagination run. Very funny!

I hope you all had a peaceful, wonderful weekend as well!

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The Little Monkey

Again, the Little Imitator! Alyssa is big into the imaginative play lately. She wants to pretend to do everything she sees us do. Here, she HAD to wear my headset to talk on the phone. The last picture is when she used the no- skid mat from under the rug as a shawl. Totally her idea, clearly not something I would have suggested!

She has also decided that she likes to"mick" (mix, to the rest of us) and help me bake. My parents got her some great kitchen playsets for Christmas with metal pots, pans and cooking utensils, as well as some baking tools. She loves to dump the box out and set up a baking center on the coffee table. She even dragged me over to sit and play with her this week! A few weeks ago, she enjoyed licking the beaters of some cake mix and frosting... check it out!

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I'm looking forward to turning this imitation into Mommy/ daughter crafting time very soon!

Daddy’s Helper, Part 2

Lately, Alyssa seems to derive the most pleasure out of imitating people. She loves to mimic what we say (censorship is in full alert status) and is getting pretty good at copying whatever we do. She loves to get involved in chores and cooking. She has helped vacuum (even though she used to be afraid of it), remove spots from the carpet, wash the windows, dust, polish the tables, etc. I even caught her pretending to "paint" with a toy spatula for a paintbrush the other day since she saw us painting the dining room a couple of weeks ago. It's so cute to see how proud she is when she's helping! If this keeps up, though, she'll have to get an allowance before she turns 2!

Another Little Miracle!

Congratulations, Melissa and Rayford! Their first child, Michelle Cheyann was welcomed to the world this afternoon at 12:09. She weighed 7lbs and 12oz and was 20 inches long. Mom and the beautiful new baby are doing well... I stopped by to visit after work this afternoon and even got to hold the sweet little bundle! I got a bit itchy, if you catch my meaning!

Snow Day

What a treat! We loved having the unexpected day off last week... Mike came home REALLY early and we spent some time watching the inaugural festivities and planning our trip out into the snow. Alyssa was glued to the windows and patio door, fascinated with the new white blanket.

We enjoyed walking around for a bit, but the munchkin is getting more stubborn lately (here come the terrible twos, I think) and fights us every time we put gloves or hats on her. We could only go out for a few minutes at a time. We all went for a walk in the evening, sans hat and gloves (we clipped her jacket arms closed so she wouldn't be completely exposed to the weather for our short trip) and enjoyed the clear evening while we could. Of course, Alyssa INSISTED on walking without holding our hands and promptly face-planted in the icy snow. See the pics for post-walk facial scrapes... obviously, THE END of our fun in the snow.

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Also included are some pics of the sunset that day through the trees in our back yard.

Christmas 2008

We had a really nice Christmas. I hope everyone else did, too! We got lots of great gifts and really enjoyed watching Alyssa. She is really good at unwrapping gifts at this point and will gladly help you open yours as well! We found that she wanted to play with each gift as it was unwrapped, so it actually too her several days to get through all of her gifts. I guess we should be thankful for that... at least we know she is enjoying what she was given! She has been having lots of fun with her puzzles, tea set, tent, tub toys, laptop, pull toys,.... you name it!

We had two Christmas dinners at our house this year. The family came over the Saturday before to do Christmas with Mama. Unfortunately, she was too sick to come (and also to sick to make the trip north to vist Uncle Chris and his family), but we all enjoyed Sauerbraten,  Red Cabbage and Kartoffel Klöße (potato dumplings), traditional German food that Bompa (my grandfather) used to make for us on Christmas. Yummy! We also had Christmas Day dinner here... I made an oven- roasted chicken with stuffing and veggies. So tasty!

We were all so busy enjoying the time together that we took almost no pictures. I'm not even sure if I got out the video camera at all!

Daddy’s Little Helper

Mike was actually home with us on Christmas Eve this year! What a treat! I have been so used to him having to work on these holidays that I almost didn't know what to do with myself... Almost. We had a nice lunch out and hung around the house. We even made a point to get outside and enjoy the lovely weather.

Mike also wanted to rake some of the leaves and pine needles from the back yard so that the grass could come up in the spring. He was pleasantly surprised when a little helper decided to give him a hand! I really mean one hand because she wouldn't put down her juice, so she only had one to spare until she rolled up her sleeves and really got down to business. See what I mean?

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Catching Up

Wow. I used to think we had been slack with the posts. These past few months have proven to be even worse! I am so sorry we haven't been more forthcoming with the pictures... I just haven't felt like myself in a while. Here's hoping that the new year helps to give me a new perspective on things!

What you've missed (or, what I have failed to tell you)...

• Michael turned 30 and my parents celebrated their 30 year anniversary on September 9th. Yes, the same day! He was actually born on their wedding day. If that doesn't say kismet, I don't know what does!


• My 29th birthday in October... YIKES! counting down to the big 3-0!


• Mike's head injury. Let me set the scene... the weekend after Thanksgiving, in the attic to get out Christmas decorations, roofing nails poking through the ceiling... well, you get the picture. It was a little stressful since it happened on a Saturday AFTER the local urgent care was closed. And we had a napping toddler. And there was blood. I think I handled myself fairly well considering it was my first family "emergency" without my mom to clean up the blood! All it took was a few hours, some quick changing of the guard (thanks to some great neighbors and quick response time by Ashleigh to keep an eye on Alyssa while we were out), some antibiotics, a tetanus shot and some Dermabond to get his head back to normal. (At least, normal for Mike!)


• Jeff came for a quick visit. He was in NC on business and decided to stop by. He and Mike even got to go see "Quantum of Solace!"


• As mentioned in a previous post, I got hooked into the "Twilight" phenomenon. I am already almost done with my second reading of all of the books. The movie was GREAT and I can't wait for the next installment!


• Alyssa has become a daredevil! Any time we take her to the park now, she takes off for the slide and can't wait to throw herself down it! We literally have to hold onto her to keep her from hurting herself. She's still not wild about the swings for any length of time, but she enjoys it for a little while now!


• We had family portraits taken... see below!