A Family of Four!

I’m going to do my best not make this blog post so disgusting that you’ll 1) stop reading for fear I’m going to give some other gross details about pregnancy or 2) decide that you never want to have children because it sounds like such an awful thing to do!!

I’ve been MIA from my blog and from several other things these past few weeks, mainly dishes, dinner and cleaning. My poor husband has been a saint and has handled most of these chores daily – although he’s not a big weeknight cooking fan so we’ve been lacking there for the most part.

I’ll go back in time a bit. Back in April we headed west for Josh to take his professional engineers exam and for me to run my first half marathon. We weren’t trying to get pregnant (yet, the plan was hopefully sometime this summer) so I had no idea I was already expecting. The race, as I posted, went well and I won’t try to blame my slow time on pregnancy because I wasn’t far enough along for it to really matter J

About a week later I realized that something wasn’t quite right. I swung by CVS on my way to work and grabbed a box of tests. I bought the big pack because I was convinced I wasn’t pregnant and I wanted to have a supply for the summer. I took the test at work, glanced at it right away and then tossed it in the stall trash can because it didn’t show two pink lines. Just as I got ready to leave the bathroom I had a weird feeling I needed to check it again. I pulled it out of the trash (yuck!) and sure enough, two pink lines, clear as day. Lesson learned – wait the 5 minutes they tell you to wait!!

I called up Josh and asked him if he wanted to have lunch. Not totally out of the ordinary and thankfully he was free so we went to get sushi. As we were getting ready to order I mentioned that I couldn’t have any raw fish. He looked at me and said “why not” still totally clueless. After smiling, grinning and then finally telling him I was pregnant (he was NOT expecting it so I had to spell it out) we hugged and he grinned from ear to ear for the rest of lunch J

Things took a turn for the worse right around 6 ½ weeks. I was expecting it because it was about the same time as it got bad with Colton. I’ll sum it up for my friends and family – every day, all day, I have that feeling that I’m on the brink of throwing up. Most days I actually do get sick and it’s typically 2 to 3 times per day. Every few days I’ll have a day where nothing comes up and I just spend the day feeling sick, but I manage to keep all my fluid and food down (which is why I haven’t had to get IV fluids or a anything fun like that). After about two weeks I realized this was going to be worse than before and contacted the doctor for a prescription. She gave me Zofran. It has worked for SO many people that I know but I’m one of the lucky few that it does nothing for and I always end up just throwing it back up. Right now, I take a unisom sleep tab (completely safe!) at bed time and I have noticed that it does help. On days when I don’t take it I can barely make it through the day but when I do I usually only get sick in the late afternoons, early evening before my next dose. At this point, I’m just trying to tuff it out and remind myself daily that “this too shall pass.” Morning sickness is a GOOD thing. It usually indicates a healthy, viable pregnancy and that my body knows what to do now that it’s show time J

Yesterday I had my first check-up with the doctor and they did an ultrasound to date the pregnancy. We were exactly right on and the baby was 10 weeks and 6 days and my due date is December 22^nd. I’m a little nervous about how December is going to be for the rest of our lives, lol. Between Colton’s birthday, this baby’s birthday and Christmas it’s going to be a busy, busy month!!

That about sums up the start of our next baby story. I plan to go back and finish posts for our trip to Darien, Georgia (probably not a great idea to visit a shrimping village when you’re nauseous) and our Memorial Day trip to the lake. Both were awesome and fun and I have lots of photos to share so I hope to get to that soon.

Also, for those that I haven’t already told, Josh passed that PE exam from back in April!!! He just recently got the news. This is such a huge accomplishment and we’re all so incredibly proud of him. He is now a licensed engineer. To get your licensure you have to work under a PE for at least four years and then you have a take a long, grueling, eight hour exam. Such a sigh of relief that he has it behind him now.

Love,

Jenny

Easter Weekend

** Disclaimer – I wrote this post weeks ago. I finally got around to loading up my photos. I have a few more posts that I hope to get done this weekend to get caught up. Life has been crazy lately and add to that three weeks of no internet. Windstream Sucks **

We had a great trip back to West Palm Beach for Easter. It was a quick one, down on Friday and back on Sunday. Colton had a rough time on the car ride down, not so much in the car but once we arrived. He did NOT want to go back to sleep and it was 11 p.m. so it wasn’t exactly the time to be up and ready to play. I ended up getting him down about midnight but it wasn’t easy!! We’ll be shooting for day trips from now on.

Saturday was a lot of fun. My grandparents stayed at my mom and dad’s house so we got to spend some time with them in the morning. We went for a swim in the pool and then the rest of the family came over for Easter dinner. We practiced our egg hunt (Colton was not at all interested in finding the eggs but he loved carrying around his basket), road on the golf cart and ate lots of yummy food.

Sunday morning we woke up and Colton found his Easter basket that the bunny hid for him. We loaded up and headed out for breakfast and our annual visit to the beach. Normally we go for the sunrise (our tradition for many years) but I’m not quite ready to wake Colton up early unless it’s absolutely necessary….sleeps pretty important to us now! We missed the sunrise but enjoyed an absolutely beautiful morning at the beach. While we missed being home and celebrating the resurrection with our friends at First Baptist, there is something incredibly renewing and awe inspiring about looking at one God’s most beautiful creations. Trust me, if you haven’t seen an Easter sunrise over the ocean, you’re really missing out!

Here are a few photos from our visit.

Easter Weekend

Love,

Jenny

Check - Crossing that off my list!

** I wrote this post over a week ago but I’m just now getting a chance to post it with photos. Looking forward to Easter with our family, more photos soon.**

I’m very happy to report that I survived my first half marathon! Last weekend we made a quick trip up to the panhandle for the race. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and visited with Josh’s parents and Mamaw at their Sunday School cookout. Colton loved running around the beautiful property and looking at the water and also loved hearing his Papa sing with the quartet. He loved it so much that he attempted to rush the stage and get up there and sing with him!

After the cookout Josh and I left for Pensacola (about an hour away) and Colton stayed for an overnight visit with Nana and Papa.

Eron (Josh’s cousin) and his wife Lacey opened their home to us so we stayed there with their adorable kids, Cameron and Gage. We had such a nice, relaxing time just catching up. My favorite part was when Gage crawled up into my lap at dinner and started playing with my hair. He then asked me if I was Rapunzel! I think it’s time for a haircut!

Bright and early Sunday we got up and snuck out to head to the beach for the race. It was extremely foggy and warm. At 6 a.m. it was 72 degrees with a high 82, yikes! More so than the warmth, I was worried about the 95% humidity.

We met up with Josh’s best friend Daniel and his girlfriend Stephanie who was also running. There were 1,500 people running in the half so it was quite the crowd. I was a little intimidated to say the least. There were so many people that fit the part of a runner that I started to second guess what I was even doing there. I reminded myself that 1) I can run and 2) it’s not a competition, at least not for me. That helped :)

The first 6 miles were awesome. I felt strong and I knew I was keeping a good pace. When I passed the half way point I was about two minutes ahead of where I expected to be at the half and that definitely gave me a confidence boost. About the same time I saw the first person of the race (four more were to follow) go down. He was a runner passing me on his way to the finish and he collapsed on the side of the road. Scary! I realized that I was starting to get a little lightheaded myself and better hold up and save my big push for the end. Well…from then on I really struggled. Once I stopped to walk I had a difficult time picking it back up again. Regardless, I still felt great and knew that the end was in sight.

Mile 9 was tough. That’s when my right calf started cramping. I pounded more water and Gatorade at each station and kept going. Mile 12 was the best. I knew I only had a little bit more to go and so many people were out to cheer us on.

Finally, the end was in sight! Despite the cramping in my calf that nearly took me to the ground I managed to pick it back up and run in to the finish. While my time certainly isn’t all that impressive, I’m so incredibly proud of myself for following through on a commitment I made to myself over a year ago. In April last year I was sleep deprived, overwhelmed, hanging on to the last few baby pounds and couldn’t even think about running around the block, let alone 13.1 miles. This April, it’s a completely different story. While I’m still sometimes sleep deprived, I’ve learned to live with it and learned how to squeeze in workouts when I can and also how to let go when I just don’t have the time. Working full-time while maintaining a home and raising a toddler is no easy feat and at times, it makes running the half seem downright easy. I’m so thankful that Josh was so supportive and worked with me on daycare pick-ups and drop-offs so I could fit in training runs. I certainly didn’t do as much as I would have liked but I’ll take the extra 15 minutes on my finish time any day to have the time spent with my family. If I didn’t get to run into their arms at the end none of it would have mattered.

So, to sum it all up, the race was awesome and I definitely have the bug. I plan to run another half sometime next year and who knows, maybe one day when Colton (and any future babies) are older and I have a few more hours in my day I might even attempt a full marathon. Momma always told me never say never and can’t isn’t a word in our vocabulary!!

Oh, and Rapunzel decided to chop her locks. I’m feeling so much lighter with 7 inches gone. I waited until after the race for fear that I wouldn’t be able to pull my hair back in a ponytail (yep, it’s that short!).

Below is a video of my finish, a link to the official race photos if you want to see me in action (warning: they aren't pretty and I was giving an awful smurk because I knew they were taking my photo) and also another album with more photos!

Race Weekend

Click Here for Official Race Photos

Love, Jenny

Finally Ready to Race

Wish me luck! I’ll be running in my first half marathon this Sunday on Pensacola Beach. My foot issue has completely resolved thanks to new shoes, shoe inserts, ice baths and foot massage. If you’re wondering what my goal might be I’m glad to share it with you – my goal is to FINISH. I’ve loosely been following Jeff Galloway’s training program at the recommendation of a friend and I just wish I had discovered it sooner. I’m planning to do a combination of running and walking and while I hope to really push myself beyond what I’ve accomplished in my past long runs, I don’t plan to try and break any world records or anything. I have no desire to be the fastest or have the prettiest running stride, I just want to get out there and push myself beyond what I would have thought possible a year ago after giving birth to Colton (and stay injury free). Running gives you such a good high and I’m incredibly grateful for two strong legs that allow me the opportunity to run at all.

My iPod is loaded up, my new sneakers are packed and my stomach is a ball of nerves. So, with that, I’m off to the race!

Life With Our Little Man

Life with Colton is such a joy. I really can't imagine what I did before he was here. Just turning around to see him do something silly or see him walk into the same room gives me goosebumps sometimes. He is so much a part of our lives now that it's as if he was always here. I thought I would share just a quick glimpse into an average night in our household. In this video Colton had just gotten in trouble for lifting up the rug and dragging it off around the house. I had to tell him that was a no-no and that instead of lifting the rug we needed his help patting it down flat and keeping it in place. Josh showed him how to stomp on it and pat it down. Miraculously it completely distracted him from dragging it around and instead we got cute video footage of his "dance."

On another note, I got one of the best compliments (in my opinion) that a mom can receive the other day. One of the teachers at Colton's school said to me as I walked in to drop him off, "Colton is always smiling and happy. I've never seen a child so happy before." While he definitely has his moments (and she's not there at nap time or diaper changes!!) he really is such a happy child. At least it gives me some confidence that we're doing something right.

Love,

Jenny

Going “Home”

This past weekend was Stetson’s Homecoming and I finally convinced Josh to make the trip back with me. It seems like every year we have something going on and it’s never a good time. Deland, home of Stetson University, is only about two hours away from Gainesville but it’s sort of out of the way so we really haven’t had a reason to swing by. This year was the 10 year reunion for a lot of my friends (my 9th) so we decided to head down.

Josh and I had a really great time and I think he finally understands why I enjoyed my time there so much. Stetson has one of the most beautiful college campuses. I knew the first time I went for a tour that it was the perfect fit for me and I really did have a wonderful four years there. When I was there we had about 1,200 students at the Deland campus and they are nearing 3,000 now!

We started off our trip with lunch at Cook’s Café. The Chicken Velvet Soup is to die for and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint. We explored downtown Deland a little bit. It’s changed so much since I was there but it still has that small town feel to it. The funny thing is that while attending school I learned that my grandma’s family lived there for a time and that some of the buildings in downtown Deland were designed by an architect in our family. Funny, I had NO idea of our connection to Deland and John Stetson until I was well into my college years.

After lunch we stopped by the Tridelta sorority house on campus. It looks exactly the same as I remember it but with much nicer flooring and furnishings, thankfully they’ve done some interior design work on it! The funniest part of this stop was seeing the look on Josh’s face when we walked into the chapter room and 30 girls all stood up to greet us. Current members will stand when alumni walk in the room and I forgot to warn Josh. They were all very sweet and welcoming. Of course I immediately had to check and see if my senior year composite photo (giant photo with all the girls pictures) was still in the stair well and sadly, it was not. I was only one year off though so I’m not THAT old.

Finally we finished up with some more shopping downtown, a cold beer at Bill and Frank’s (former owners of Half Times) and then ice cream at Rodeo Whip. It makes sense now why the freshman 15 is so easy to gain :)

Here are a few photos from our trip. Maybe next year we’ll make it back for my official 10 year reunion. Oh, and Josh has already laid down the law. If Colton wants to go to Stetson, he needs to get scholarships (or else we’ll be paying for the rest of my education AND his). Personally, I think it was worth every penny :)

Elizabeth hall where I spent MANY long hours

Communication Studies

Of course Josh loves the historical stuff – Stetson is Florida’s oldest private university

The Dupont Ball Library – my first job freshmen year

My freshmen year dorm (Smith Hall)

This is for our friend Jeff, the Sig Ep house

Where the Hatter Basketball team plays

The President’s House

Howry House looking all spiffy (many off campus parties were held here and it never looked like this!! but of course I wouldn't know because I never went ;)

The old Blind Pig, now something else

In case you didn’t get enough, here are more pictures of Rodeo Whip!

Love,
Jenny

Getting Ready for Some R&R

I'm so excited! We finally made a reservation for our anniversary getaway/first real time away by ourselves without Colton. It's bittersweet. On one hand I'm dreading leaving him, but on the other, I'm super excited to have some time with just the two of us.

We're heading to Darien, GA and staying here - (Open Gates Bed and Breakfast)

We have visited St. Simon's Island many times and normally we'd go there and stay at the Village Inn and Pub but we wanted something a little different. While St. Simon's is small and quaint in the spring and summer it can get pretty crowded. Darien is about 30 minutes away and still on the coast. We wanted a place we could go and literally do nothing but still have the conveniences of a nice place to stay and nice restaurants. I found a B&B that seemed perfect and low and behold it was on the cover of a Southern Living that's still in a pile on my nightstand. I CAN NOT wait!!! It's such a long overdo trip. The Innkeepers have been great and I shared with them that we plan to sit on the porch, lay in the pool, eat, and DO NOTHING! Well, we may kayak but that's pretty relaxing too.

On another note, Colton is coming up on his big spring break so Nana and Papa are arriving this Friday to watch him for the week. The school is still open but we have to pay extra (in addition to his annual fee ) to send him so we opted out this time around. I'm sure they'll have some fun activities during the week and that he'll keep them very busy!! Pictures to come soon....

In the meantime, here's my cutie pie and the progression of thin mint cookie eating photos. He thought I was going to take it away from him so he ran off and shoved it in his mouth and acted like he wasn't eating anything. He gets his love of thin mints from me.

In the last photo he is thinking, "If I distract her by stealing this remote she won't notice the cookie in my mouth."

Love,
Jenny

Where's your Bellybutton?

Yesterday the doctor asked Colton where his nose was and Josh and I looked at each other as if to say "is he supposed to know that already?" She assured us that he wasn't but she was just checking to see. Of course we then started pointing out his nose and belly button and a day later, he's got it down! We'll see if he remembers tomorrow.

15 Months Old

Today was Colton’s 15 month check-up. I say this during each stage but I really, really love this age. Colton is becoming such a little boy and his personality really shows. He had a great check-up and was on track in all areas. He was 25 lbs and 32 1/4 inches. I can’t remember exactly but that is somewhere around the 75% for weight and in the 80’s for height. His feet are huge, he wears a 6 1/2 wide. He has big hands and long fingers which he gets from mama. I think his eyes will definitely stay brown. They are a deep chocolate brown but have a pretty “glow” in the sunlight. They say eye color can change dramatically in the first few years but Colton’s have been consistently a deep dark color (gray when born and now chocolate brown).

He goes to bed with a sippy, nightlight and lullaby music and it’s the sweetest thing ever. His bedtime is 7 p.m. and most nights he barely makes it that long. He sleeps until 7 a.m. the next morning. He likes to brush his teeth (he has 12 and is starting to get his 4 canines) and he takes one nap around 11:45 a.m. Most of the time it’s an hour but on occasion he’ll give us two. We’ve finally gotten into a good nap routine (now that bedtime is all sorted out) and fingers crossed we won’t have to drive him around in the car anytime soon. Naps used to be a battle but seem to be on the right track. One bad habit is that he wakes up cranky…always! Whether it’s in the morning or from a nap or after a long restful sleep, he always wakes up cranky. Usually it takes a few minutes and a cup of milk and then he’s back to his normal, happy self. This one he gets from his daddy

He’s doing very well in daycare. He has a best friend, Aaron. They wrestle, chase each other, hug each other upon arrival and I see trouble in their future! They both have that twinkle in their eye and little dimples. Colton’s teachers tell me that normally he is very well behaved. He cleans up when they tell him to and he follows directions, but on occasion when he decides he’d rather do something else, he has this coy little smile that he gives and he shows those dimples and they say it’s all they can do not to crack up laughing. He also has two girlfriends in class – Sophia and Bri are his latin ladies and he’s so cute with them. Sophia can walk so they will yell and wave when they first get there and run up and hug. Bri is a little younger but he gives her kisses and likes to sit on her (that’s his sign of affection!).

He says lots of words but none of them are very clear to other people just yet. He says mama and dada, dog, duck, outside, bath, all done, play and snack. He tries to mimic most things that we say and he talks A LOT in his own little language, but those are the words we know he’s getting close to perfecting.

His favorite toys are any and all trucks and toys with wheels. He loves books and of course his four wheeler. He cries when he has to come inside from playing (he absolutely loves playing outside) and he likes playing with other kids. We actually took him to the park with some friends for a picnic not too long ago and he and his little friend Tyler were instant buddies. Tyler would pull him around in the wagon and Ty (who is 2) would throw the baseball for him. Colton would pick it it up, tuck it under and run away. It was a great game of baseball/football we had going on.

We’re looking forward to summer already with these warm temps. We have some fun trips coming up and we’ll be taking swim lessons when it warms up a bit. He loves the bath so hopefully that goes well. I’m still undecided on whether or not we’ll do YMCA or ISR (infant swim resource) lessons. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Today is the last post of my first blog book! I’ve been blogging about our lives to keep in touch with friends and family for three years now! There is a really neat website called Blog to Print that will allow me to take certain posts and create a book out of them. I plan to print the posts from the first post when we announced our pregnancy through 15 months. I’ve never been much of a journal keeper so this is something I’m very excited to do for Colton. It won’t mean much now, or anytime in the near future, but I hope one day he’ll be able to sit down and read all about his first years and see just how much he is loved.

Love,
Jenny