7 months later... yeah.

Needless to say, we've been super busy with life! Isabella Rose came into the world on January 20th, 2009 and somehow made our lives more full than ever. Jada turns 4 years old next month and I'm shocked at how quickly she is growing up and turning into a little girl (and diva!)

Jennie and I moved our little family into the North Raleigh area, about 4 miles from Jennie's school. We love the new house and especially love the central location. I love spending more time out of the car than in it - go figure!

Maybe between Jennie and I we can start to update this blog more often *fingers crossed*

One more day in 2008!

This year has flown by! We have been so busy lately that I feel like I can never catch up. We had a nice Christmas-we went to Concord for the 23rd and 24th for family Christmas happenings, then we came back to Hillsborough to have Santa come to our house. Jada was completely overloaded with everything Christmas morning! We set out all of the presents she got in Concord PLUS everything that Santa brought for her. It took her 2 hours to go through and unwrap everything! She was on such a sensory overload, she didn't even know where to start opening things! We finally started by opening her 2 barbie dolls then moved on to the Ariel toys, etc. We had a great day together~We are still trying to recover from it! Fast forward to Monday...I had another doctor's appointment (I will go once a week until the 19th) and Bella's heartbeat was in the 140s, everything appears normal. We did find out what to do if I go into labor, and that even if I do, I can still have a C-section. (YAY!)

Yesterday was my birthday, and Jada woke us up nice and early to celebrate. Wayne cooked me breakfast (cinnamon rolls) while I opened up my present. He got me a photo printer!! YAY! I am very happy with it because my only grip about us taking pictures is we never develop them. Now, we can pick and choose the ones we want when we take them without having to worry about going to the store, etc. The printer works really well. You can put in the memory card, hook it up to the computer as a printer, copy, and scan with it. It is a very cool present and Wayne also hooked me up with plenty of photo paper to last for awhile.

We went to the Cheesecake factory for dinner where I got the 30th anniversary chocolate cake cheesecake. It was heaven! After dinner, I wanted to take Jada to Build A Bear because we have never done that before, so we went and she made a dog. She named her dog Andalasia (from Enchanted) but we convinced her to call the dog Andi. We had fun stuffing the dog and all that goes with that. All in all, my birthday was very nice. Lots of birthday wishes via facebook and even a few phone calls. :)

Wayne has been working throughout this holiday time, and I have to go back to work on Friday. I should have been working on my maternity leave lesson plans, but it is proving to be more difficult than I thought. 4 lessons a day, with 50 days of leave. I have a schedule worked out, but I am struggling to actually write the lesson plans. I really an becoming preoccupied with trying to get ready for Bella that I am not motivated to do work over my "vacation."

Our baby shower is this weekend in Concord, and Wayne and I are very excited about it. Baby showers are just so much fun, and it makes things more real. Isabella will be here in about 2 weeks after the shower-so unreal! I organized Bella's room a little more this week, and my next project is to tackle Jada's room so she feels like she has her own space for herself and her stuff. I guess you could say I am nesting...

4 Years

From Wayne to Jennie - 12/18/2008



You and I work extremely hard for what we have. When I say this I am not only referring to our physical possessions but also the very substance of our relationship: love. When I wake up in the morning, it is because I love you. When I make accomplishments at work, it is because I love you. When I kiss my daughter and tell her she is my friend, it is because I love you. Our love has built a home and made a family. Brick by brick and stone by stone we have laid the foundation of this relationship and made something beautiful for the entire world to see and envy.



Four years ago I vowed to love you forever. I vowed to cherish you as my lover and my friend. I have lived up to these vows, just as you have. With each day that passes we add more and more layers to our union. Our love has depth, and runs deeper than any sentiment or emotion I have every experienced in life. Our love overflows into the lives of our children. They are better because of us. They are better because of our love.



I vowed to protect you. I strive to place my family inside of a protective atmosphere. Sometimes this may come across as controlling, but it is sincere and honored on behalf of a vow and promise I made to you. When you cry, I cry. When you hurt, I feel your pain as if it were my own. I vowed to protect you. Each day I try.



When I wake up in the morning and have the HONOR of saying “happy anniversary” to my wife, it is because I love you.

Your love and protector,
Wayne

In an effort to keep each other well dressed, here are the 4 year anniversary gifts:

Jennie got me a new ( and VERY nice) pea coat :) My previous coat was not that nice and the buttons were just falling off.

When she told me that she bought me something from Macy's the first thing I said was "pea coat."

Did I mention that I'm always right ;)


I got Jennie this really fancy and nice 100% cashmere sweater from Macy's and a new wallet. I think I outdid my self this time around, she looks FANTASTIC (and feels even better)!

It is confirmed!!!

So, I called the doctor today, and it is official~Isabella will be joining us at 9:30am on January 19, 2009!!!! I am so excited! We have a lot going on right now, but so much is great! Hopefully we will get a completed nursery this weekend with crib, rocker/ottoman, and painted walls. I am so excited to see it!

Wayne is amazing when it comes to being a dad, I can't wait to see how he does it times 2! Four years ago today, I found out Jada was coming (Wayne foudn out 2 days later), and now she is here and we have another miracle coming...it is so surreal.

Last night, we rolled truffles to give to coworkers, and we boxed them up to take to work today. It is so much fun doing things like that to tell people how much you appreciate them. We rolled almost 300 truffles total, and somehow, I managed to not eat a single one. I didn't want one then, but now I am craving something deliciously sweet! This pregnancy is very different, I don't really crave anything specific. There have been times when I really wanted something, but not really craving something in particular all the time.

Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary, and I am so excited!! I got Wayne a really good present this year, and I really hope he likes it. He always rocks at giving special presents, and I really try to, but can never compare to all the things he does. We are going out on Friday night to celebrate our anniversary because it would just be too much to try and go out on a school night and worry about making it home in time so Jada can get to bed and we can get up in the morning. Wayne told me this morning that he has something special planned, and I am psyched! I love surprises, even though sometimes I don't show it.

I think that is why I like presents instead of gift cards...there is always that anticipation of opening the present that you just don't get with an envelope.

We have a tentative date!

Jennie had a check-up appoint yesterday and we finally set our delivery date: January 19, 2009. Everything is still tentative at this point, but it is looking pretty good that our Bella will be born 5 weeks from yesterday! It is getting so close!

Take a look at this website, which details important events that have occured on Jan 19th: http://www.brainyhistory.com/days/january_19.html

(none more important than the birth of my little girl, of course!)

As our anniversary approaches (Thursday), and Christmas (next Thursday), and Jennies Birthday (the next Tuesday), and the baby (next next next next next Monday) Jennie and I are losing our minds. Seriously. Let me detail our day yesterday.

Jennie wakes up and goes downstairs to get the Pepsid, which has been a necessity during this pregnancy. She gets the bottle out, then turns to the refrigerator to get the milk out. She proceeds to pour the milk into the pill bottle!!!!!

Then, we get into our cars to go to the hospital for our appointment and start down the road. Suddenly, I look up and realize that I have driven 7 miles past my exit!

We get to work (by some twist of luck) and Jennie sends me an email saying that she forgot to put the parking brake up on the car when she parked at school, causing her to roll into the bushes and spilled a drink all over herself and her Coach bag.

I emailed her back and told her that she must really be loosing it, because if she would have just pressed the power button in the Prius it would have automatically engaged the brake. She sends a message back informing me that she did not drive the Prius today... I did ;)

A Busy Weekend

On your mark. Get set. GOOOOOO!

(and they're off...)


Jennie and I have a killer weekend lined up, starting today at 2pm. My company is having a Christmas party at Chatham Hills Winery today from 2-5. Should be a ton of fun, with lots of wine, heavy appetizers, and most important... NO WORK :)

Jennie will be picking me up at 5ish and we will be off to a night of dinner and shopping, probably in the Southpoint area. We will be able to do this without our child because our daycare rocks! Twice a year they have extended hours and basically babysit while the parents go out on a date. So, Jada will be at school until 9pm. We sent her off this morning with dinner and PJs and said "HAVE FUN" (we sure will!) Tonight should also mark the end of our Christmas shopping, which is a great feeling. We only have a few things left to pick up.

Tomorrow, we have a slow morning but then Susan is coming over at 2pm to have a small little xmas celebration before she heads back to SC. After she leaves we will be going to an awesome Christmas party. This party is being held by one of the families from daycare, and the invitation says they will have real snow, a babysitter for all the kids, wine, and food! Yay!



On Sunday we are going to Miles' 3rd birthday party, which I think is Wall-e themed. Jada should have a lot of fun with that as she LOVES Wall-e.


Well, I better get some work done before all of the FUN begins!

Getting things ready... well kinda

When Jada was cooking Jennie and I worked diligently day-in and day-out to prepare the house and nursery. We were comletely done with the nursery by month 5 of the pregnancy. Wasn't it pretty!

This time around we ABSOLUTELY suck. Isabella will be moving into Jada's old room, which currently consists of: Jada's broken crib, Bella's new crib (still in a box), a new changing table (actually put together), a green wall that needs to be re-painted to match, purple curtains which need to be replaced, and a glider/ottoman (still in a box). When you walk into the room you feel sad inside. I really need to get my butt in gear! I am strongly hoping that some of my friends will come over and assist me in the assembly of these items, as it can be a very long and tedious project. Ugh. But the finished product will be wonderful!

This is the crib:

It is a coffee color that is nice and dark but still has some brown in it. There is a drawer underneath, but apparently it just sits on the floor and isn't attached to the actual crib. Still, I really like it :)

We are not using the sheet set shown in the picture, for these you need to scroll down :)

Here is our changing table

We don't have any of the accessories yet and will probably get those at pottery barn kids (they have the softest stuff).

The table is the same coffe color as the crib and we will have the same set-up with the baskets and such.

Jennie and I were really lucky to find the perfect bedding for the nursery. In this first picture you can see the inside of the bumper which has yellow flowers and scribbled sheep. The comforter says "Isabella Rose" and is my favorite piece in the set. It is very good quality, soft, and heavy.

The sheets are solid yellow with the same sheep pattern.

Here you can see the entire set from the outside. We also got the baby pillow sham, which says "Bella" on it.

In the background you can see a small part of the polka dotted curtains. We have these also, along with the crib skirt.

Also, in addition to these items, we have this. First, you see the picture on the wall of our little sheep friend. He is actually a peg board slip cover, so you can poke things in him :) In this picture you can see our sheep mobile. It's going to be so adorable. It hangs from the ceiling, so we don't have to worry about fitting it to the crib.

We decided to do everything in yellow/black/white this time around since Jada was a total pink/purple kind of girl.

Hopefully, Bella will like it as much as we do!