Buggs and More Fun!

As promised the completed room pictures have been posted!! Please note the walls are VERY bare, please send bug (grasshopper) artwork!! It took nearly two weeks but oh what a time we've had doing it :) Two of my bff's from highschool (DJ and Latatious) painted the room for me while I stayed in the well ventilated garage painting the bookshelf and toy trunk. The room started as a dusty dirty rose but turned to a nice cream with a blue top boarder and green bottom boarder to match the furniture. The changing table I chose to be red to give the room more primary colors and plus it went with his bedding. The grasshopper you see in the middle of his bed is the one David and I found on our trip to New Orleans. At the current moment his name is Bright Eyes. Freyja helped me wash down the crib today and then daddy built it for us. Granmama came over and helped move the final piece of furniture into the room so now next week I can focus on getting all the "first year" stuff into his room and giving Freyja back her room which is currently so packed we had to dig a path to/from her bed! Freyja also test drove the crib today to make sure it and Mr. Bright Eyes were suitable for baby brother to sleep on and with.

Today we went swimming for the first time this year. She dove right in like a pro and started back up swimming like a fish! I had to get her new wings today since her old ones were (a) lost and (b) too small anyway :) Plus she needed a noodle to help paddle around. The water was definitely chilly but not enough to keep us out. Even Star went for a quick swim with us! She hates for us to be in the pool without her! As you can tell from the pix I definitely need to dig out the ol' pregnancy bathing suit because Jax just about popped the seams on this one today! We're headed back to the pool again tomorrow, Bugg just can't get enough!! I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of that pool this summer :)

Thats it for now, I really just wanted to say the pix are posted so make sure to check out the Picasa albums (Room Renovation and Freyja Rose 33months) for the latest! Enjoy :)

Bunny Tales

Well this weekend was FAR from boring I am pleased to announce! Saturday started as normal...alarm goes off at 5am I stumble to the shower and then somehow make it to work while still half asleep. 10am comes and 200kids RUSH into Winn Dixie for the egg hunt! But shortly before that I happen to glance out at the crowd and what do I see? A cute little blondie cuddled close to her ruggedly handsome daddy I am proud (most of the time) to call my hubby! Tears of course rush to this pregnant mothers eyes as I swell with pride over the fact that (1) daddy brought her to see mommy AND the Easter bunny at work and (2) because their mine dammit!! Well...work grinds to a halt FINALLY at 2pm and I come home to my adorable daddy/daughter duo and as I'm changing from uniform to comfy close I look down and find.....OMG'sh I'M PREGNANT!!! Seriously! Between the time I left for work and the time I got home Jaxon rotated and popped my belly right on out there for the world to see! So I'm now dressed and LOOKING pregnant as I make my way down the hallway I glance out the back door and notice theres new chairs on the patio!! The Easter Bunny made an early visit before our party!! I show hubby the NEW & IMPROVED belly, which he's just as shocked as I am, and then we get ready for our gumbo party with the four women (non-related) my life would be incomplete without.  Saturday night kicked off with Wendy, Latatious, DJ and all their better/other halfs and offspring crowding into my house for a night of laughter, good food and tons of fun! Pix are in the Picasa album if you care to look :)

Sunday was another "why oh why does 5am come sooooooo early" day...After work I headed to mom and dad vh's and hid a bunch of eggs in the yard for my Bugg then came home and while daddy was playing distractor, the Easter Bunny snuck in and dropped off a basket of goodies for Freyja. We are STILL playing tea party and her gator egg is in water now so in 24-48hrs we'll have a pet alligator :) Ok...yeah....a little sponge one! Then we headed to Opa and Granmama's to find eggs and gorge ourselves on an Easter lunch! Easter pix are of course in the Picasa albums as well (32month album)

Today....why oh why does 7am come soooooooo early??? I dropped Bugg off at Opa's and headed for my monthly well mommy/grasshopper check up. Jaxon hated the doppler (heartbeat listener thingy) and kicked it everytime the Dr would find a good spot to try and listen. I have gained 4lbs, all bp and other junk are normal, I'm measuring right at 23wks (right on schedule) and doc says as long as we keep up the good work he should pop out on his own and us not have to worry about preclampsia and all that other fun crap Freyja and I went through. Now Bugg and I are curled up on the couch watching cartoons til its at least 70 outside (around noon) to head outside and play for the day. Tonight is "girls night" at Wendy's. It sucks that Latatious is sooooooo far away (New Jersey) that we can't do this more often but at least when she's home we can get together and have a blast!

So thats all the news on the front this time around. Will blog again later this month as I'm sure something else exciting will need to be immortalized in typeface as well!

New Orleans Babymoon

I just posted the few pix (click on pix and it will take you to the album)that we took while in New Orleans this past Thursday/Friday. We went to a Gator Ranch called "The Insta Gator" in Abita Springs (yes the water place), went on their tour and then got to play with some baby aligators with their lil mouths taped up. Then we went across a 24MILE bridge across Lake Ponchitarin to New Orleans....it was a priceless moment when we saw the sign that said "24mile bridge" and we both gasped, said it at the same time and laughed :)

 We stayed at the Wyndham Inn just outside the French Quarter but still in the center of down town NO. We picked this one so that it was within walking distance of everything we wanted to see/do since parking/driving in NO is INSANE! Our concert was just down the street for the hotel so it was an easy walk, Harrah's casino was right next to our hotel so we walked through there just to see if we could sink a few quarters and let David say he FINALLY gambled and was a in a casino! Did you know that casinos no longer take quarters?!? You either had to put money on their company cards or insert $5, $10, $20..etc into the maching to play.We went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner....still not sure what the fuss is over the place but no complaints over the meal :) The concert (Alkaline Trio) was at the House of Blues, they started playing at 10pm and it was everything we hoped it would be. There will still a few songs we really would've loved seeing live but everything they played ROCKED! They even played my favorite song "Blue Carolina" which isn't even one of their top songs so definitely a surprise to hear it live!

Friday after sleeping in a bit and sleeping off the concert hangover (much like an alcohol hangover but goes away quicker...you just feel extremely lagged) we went over to the RiverWalk (large mall type thing located right on the Mississippi River) and had breakfast/lunch then went to the Aquarium of the America's next door. Its smaller than I remember from being there nearly 10yrs ago but it was still fun to tour again. Lastly we headed to the Insectarium just up the street and saw some creatures that would give anyone nightmares! There were a few had they not been behind glass they would've been history under my shoe in a heartbeat! You know those huge 10gal glass jugs? Over 140,000 termites can fit in that thing and is still only a 1/4 of what you would find in an infested tree! They had a "snack stand" but neither David or I were too keen on bugs for an afternoon snack! We were lucky enough to find the stuffed animal that we wanted for Jaxon though, a stuffed grasshopper!! And of course we brought Freyja home a stuffed gator to add to her collection and a shotglass for David's and my collection :)

If we had it to do again...I think we'd add an extra day but other than that we had a blast! We missed our Bugg terribly and David even called her name at the Aquarium to get her to look at a sea turtle before he realized she wasn't there. Neither of us can wait to take both kids back maybe next August or the following so that we can hatch a gator in our hands and they visit the aquarium, insectarium and zoo all together!! Its great to be home but....oh New Orleans...*sigh* how I will miss you til we meet again!

A View from Above

Yep, thats Jax! Or at least my current view of him :) Some days he's bigger than others...I guess he's finding places in there to hide that I don't know about. Hmm.. So my little grasshopper is getting much more active now and at least once a day it feels like theres a dance party going on in my stomach. The sibling rivalry has also begun, Jax has made it clear that he doesn't like being laid on by his big sister! Freyja was sprawled out asleep on me yesterday afternoon while I watched a movie and while I didn't think her leg was THAT heavy on my belly Jax begged to differ and kicked til I moved it. As of Sunday I'm on the downward slope of the pregnancy, I'm now 21wks and only have 19wks left til this little man is running our lives from the outside! After April 1st we're gonna start going "whole hog" on the nursery and getting things done. My friend DJ (yes, DJ Lance as Freyja STILL calls her) is going to help me paint the room then we're going to stencil a bug border around the room (if I can find a cute one). My cousin Patti is working on a name plaque to go above his crib, each letter is shaped out of a bug. I'm anxious to see what the final product will look like. I still haven't found a bedding that I'm thrilled over...and I'm not even sure I'm going to bother other than to get solid colors and just go with the bugs on the wall for the decor. We had dragonfly everything for Freyja and where is it now...yeah, in the closet! So keep your eyes peeled for "bug" stuff and let me know what you find! I've done a registry at Target...I dont know if there will be a "boy shower" for him or not but I figured I'd stick a few things up there for anyone who might be curious. Luckily we went the smart route when we had Freyja and bought 99% of the stuff gender neutral except for clothes...so I have tons of green and yellow stuff that can be reused! There's even a handful of outfits that are neutral enough that he can wear (actually, they were bought in the boys dept for Freyja but I couldn't resist the squirrel and hedgehog patterns that Gymboree was sporting at the time!). My next trip to the ultrasound school is scheduled for mid April when they start back up again. They will be starting 3-d ultrasound training so I'm looking forward to getting see what my little man looks like!! I have a drs appt first of the month so I can update his progress then as well :)

In Freyja news...we STILL have not had a fully successful day on the potty and I'm beginning to feel we never will...but as my friend Elizabeth said, you don't see kidergartners in diapers so shes bound to train some time... I don't think theres a single word NOT in her vocabulary now (except for colorful ones, Thank God!), she talks in complete sentences and is 90% understandable unless she's just truely pissed or tired and then you have no chance of deciphering her. She's finally letting me put her hair up in bows most of the time. Especially right after her hair is freshly washed. Its amazing how much her face can change when her hair goes from down to up!

In family news...David and I leave Thursday for a much needed, first time away from Freyja, second babymoon, and belated anniversary trip to New Orleans. We're off to see our favorite band, Alkaline Trio, in concert for the first time. This is the first time they've been less than 8hrs away from us performing so it'll be a real treat to finally get to go. We also have tickets to the aquarium, zoo and insectarium all of which I feel mildly guilty going to without Freyja but I know there will ALWAYS be future trips! Plus we have plans to just explore New Orleans since David has never been there (at least not on his own away from school to adventure around) and he definitely needs to experience the French Quarter, the cemetaries and just the beauty that downtown New Orleans holds. New Orleans has got to be one of my most favorite places in the US to visit! I've only been a few times since high school but each time has shown me a world unlike anything you find outside the New Orleans borders...the foods, the smells, the people...all I can say is WOW! I once had a chance to move there with some friends and sometimes I wish I had just to experience it up close and personal but at the same time its like that elusive dream...its out there and you can see it but its just beyond your comprehension. For now I will settle with occasional trips over to refill my heart with the love of the abience of the forgotten paradise that is New Orleans :) More on my forgotten paradise when we return...

I think that is about all the news I have for this blog, though I'm pleased to announce the in-laws are home from China and Skotty has FINALLY gone home! We only had once incident where he bit Freyja on the nose (no blood or anything) but its her fault so really he was a good pup this time around. Its sooooooooo nice not to be woken up at the crack of dawn by that crackhead dog wanting to play! Yes, I'm still working weekends and looks like I will continue to do so until the dr says its time to ease up...between the cars having issues, doctor bills and LIFE...it doesnt look like I'm in a hurry to get out of there. After New Orleans our next biggest thing is the "girls" trip to Oklahoma for the birth of my 3rd cousin and hopefully a quick trip over the border to Tx to see dad and Stella.

Time to go find what my child has gotten into..the occasional maniacal giggles (like her fathers) are coming from the living room where the pup is trying to sleep so Lord knows this child is doing! Til next time, keep an eye on our albums, you never know when I'll post more pix!

Houston, we have a problem! So apparently the little swimmers did not get the message that they were supposed to be wearing pink instead of blue this time and it appears we now diving into the unknown realm of boyhood.... But on the upside I will now have my lil "Jacky Boy", my "Aye Jax!", "Prince Jaxon", "Jaxson Vance" get your butt back over here! And of course I'll now have a LadyBugg and a Grasshopper! The history of the name: Jaxon is the only first name David and I could truely agree on, the spelling is due to the fact he will most likely go by "Jax" or at least thats what I plan on calling him. Vance is for David's "favorite" grandfather (his mothers father), it was his middle name. We tried to find something "God"-like to compliment Freyja as a Goddess but male mythological Gods had the funkiest names and even WE couldn't do that to our child! As for Freyja she could appear to care less that we know the sex now...she's still "clueless" as to whats REALLY going on :) We've told her its a baby brother and she grasps it for a few minutes or sees the ultrasound and coo "oh baby brudder" but as for it hitting home...not there yet.

Jax's ultrasound went well yesterday, he's measuring at 17wks, 5days which still puts us on or about August 5th. According to my "mom" books he's about the size of a bellpepper if you ball him up and weighs about 5-6oz. By the time we go in next time he'll be a full pound! He was like his big sister in the sense he didn't mind "posing" for the ultrasound so we could get a good look at the "apple & stem", "turtle" or whatever little acronym you wanna use for the part I'll get the joy of diapering for the next 2-3yrs! He was pretty active during this one too, doing summersaults and all sorts of stuff to stay out of the direct limelight but for the most part he was coopertive for what they needed to get pix of and from their lack of concern I'm assuming he's everything he is supposed to be at the point :) I'm not getting alot of movement out of him yet but if I lay on my side long enough he curls up with me and then when I lay on my back you can very easily tell where he is! I'm feeling him roll from one side to the other but none of the little "butterfly" kicks yet. And apparently its just my tastebuds since superstition did not pan out...I crave nothing by Mexican ( cheese enchilladas and refried beans) and chips & salsa (only from a Mexican restaraunt or Chilis) CONSTANTLY!!! And of course my old craving for pepperoncini's is back too (their related to the jalopeno but not nearly as hot, if you can handle mild heat you can pop the entire thing in your mouth and eat it whole.) *sigh*...heartburn central dead ahead though, I can already see/feel it coming again!

In other news, I have a house guest for the majority of the month....Mom and dad vH are off in China checking out the newest member of the family, Nathan Daniel van Hoose, born Feb. 25th to Rob and Chun Miao. So that means instead of rescuing one dog from Freyja's clutches I'm having to save Skotty as well! I have a bear of a time keeping this dog because he wont listen to me, is super skittish around Freyja and is used to getting up at sunrise which makes for a noisy house super early! If you can get Freyja to "calm down" a bit she will play ball with him though out in the yard and he LOVES that! He's a nice enough dog to have around but like most Cockers, he's underfoot at all times and is super self concious! Here's hoping March 18th gets here SOON!!!

NEWS FROM THE BUGG FRONT:

Bugg is getting more familiar with the potty, though she's more of a daddy pleaser than an active tryer! On the weekends while I work she repeatedly has potty successes...momma comes home and its back to the drawing board! I've had ONE successful trip to the potty with her but that was sheer accident/luck/whatever! So I'm thinking maybe I'll zip back to college get a more successful degree than David, go back to work, and leave him home with the young'en(s) til potty training days are complete!

Bedtime is getting MUCH easier around here these days! She's even letting daddy put her down on Friday/Saturday nights so mommy can get a full nights rest before work! In the past month I've only had to go to her once in the middle of the night and that was just a couple of days ago when she woke up at 5am and just needed someone to cuddle. I can even put her down now and cuddle for a few minutes and even before she drifts off she'll let me leave the bed! BIG improvements!!

She's still very much in love with my friend DJ (DJ Lance as she calls her) and still goes over once a week while I'm at the chiropractor though she has stopped wanting anything to do with the puppies since the depantsing episode...All seven puppies went to eagerly greet her one day and she ran for them to chase her and when she stopped they started jumping at her and accidently pulled down her pants. She had several little scratches on her legs and was emotionally traumatized for the day but all is well now :) It was one of those moments where if my child hadn't of been so distressed over it, it would've made a PERFECT Kodak moment! But luckily it is in my memory forever now!! Freyja loves to go over and play with the kids, the girls treat her like a little princess and do EVERYTHING for her! Even their great grandparents that live next door are infatuated with Freyja. Its nice to know theres a safe and friendly place that I can leave her where she's loved and cared for as if she was with family.

Buggisms for the months: "I NEED it in my tummy!!"-- referring to Arbys EVERYTIME we pass one! "Grandaddy fix it"-- referring to EVERYTHING that breaks or tears...including balloons, balls, napkins, etc. "I NEED to go to the supermarket"-- reflecting from one of her fav. cartoons Umi Zoomi and their quest for yogurt (her new favorite food!) "I in a marching band parade!"--as she comes down the hall wearing her drums and beating as loud/hard as she can. And my heart melter for the month was her telling me "I lush you sooooo much momma" as she's hugging and kissing me to death before bed. I say it to her often enough she returned the favor the other night and even made me tear up!

So...I think thats about all the news for this month. I go back to the OB April 5th but between now and then I hope to get an appt at the Ultrasound School here locally so I can get more pix done. Jaxon has his own album up on Picasa now that has all of his ultrasound pix in it. Its nice to have a name on it and not just just z3 :) Our love to you all! Have a great month and hopefully next time I will have "potty training break thru" news for you!!

Long time no blog

Yeah, so its been WAY to long since I last sat down and did this and I promise as the next 6months creep along I will get better at this again!

I guess its true what they say about 2nd (3rd, 4th, etc) pregnancies and the fact they kinda just "happen" and all of a sudden you have another baby because for the life of me I can't keep track of how far along I am this time! I'm pretty sure I'm 15wks now give or take a few days...but I do know for certain I'm in the 2nd trimester and my due date is still August 5th! Thank goodness that first trimester is OVER! It wasn't hell as many women have it but I'm glad the all day queezies are gone, I can give Freyja a pickle without wanting to throw up and some of the soreness has gone away in places. And yes, the baby bump is starting to protrude!

Freyja has been practicing her big sister skills on her dolls lately. She tucks them in, feeds them, and drags them by their feet to the next room. She loves my belly, she gives it lots of kisses and zerberts! She told me the other day that theres a baby in her belly too but I quickly explained only mommies carry babies in their bellys and it was big sisters job to keep mommy's belly safe with lots of kisses. When asked what she wants she flip flops between brother and sister so I don't think she really cares (knows).

We're still working on potty training. She understands it needs to be done in the big potty and not the diaper but the connection of how to get there isn't there yet. The other morning when I was in the shower she was in the bathroom with me playing and I peeked out the curtain just in time to see her drop her drawers pull of her diaper and all but fall hiney first into the commode trying to get up there to "try" to go potty. So its time to install the training potty seat cushions on all the toilets so I dont have to worry about her falling in and getting a toilet complex.

Other cute stuff this kid has been up to: Last month I had a LOW blood sugar day and nearly passed out in the kitchen so I layed down in the floor til it passed and I could get up, well she brought me a pillow and blanket so we could cuddle together! I've recently started getting close again to one of my old high school best friends (DJ) and we try to get together at least once a week. She happens to live over by my chiropractor so when I go for my weekly adjustments (little bits of heaven!!) I drop Freyja off with her then come back and spend a good part of the afternoon visiting. Well, Freyja loves the cartoon Yo Gabba Gabba and one of the main characters on there is DJ Lance (the narrator of the show) and Freyja calls DJ-- DJ Lance...apparrently all DJ's are DJ Lances as all Bobs would be the same Bob? 2yr old logic astounds me!

Cute phrases: "I a good helper!", "Teamwork mommy!" While gardening and pulling weeds..."mommy wins!!" as the weed gives way and mommy falls on her butt! "I lush you", "I miss you", "Gran (or Papa or Nonnie) is far far away :(", "I like it, I eat it, I eat it all gone!"...the common exclamation at the grocery store when she finds something she wants me to buy. "Princess Bubble bath please?" and of course daddy's favorite "pwause, please daddy, pwwwause" when she wants him to stop something and pay attention to her.

So I know the photo album for 30months is lacking but I promise this month as it warms up and we can get out more you will see the normal barage of 20million pictures! Between work (which I QUIT in May...are we there yet?!?) and all this cold weather and not to mention this little energy and life sucker inside of me I really have not had the time/energy/strength/motivation to do much more than lounge close to where Freyja is and kinda catnap! So, I love you all and stay tuned to the next installment!

Terrible Twos??

So here we are 5days into the 2's and I have a sick lil puppy! Well actually I have no clue if she's sick, teething, constipated or just worn slap out from last weekend and is just playing catch up. Sorry its been another 5wks since I've blogged. Since David got me that awesome phone for my birthday I'm rarely on a big computer except to quickly post pix and its rather hard to blog from a phone with a keyboard smaller than a remote control!

June went by pretty uneventfully. We got the house pretty much the way we want it...slowly we'll start painting room by room and replacing door knobs (to keep mother from getting locked in places again! yes...she locked herself in the bathroom last week and we had to take the knob off completely because it was so old and worn. thank goodness it wasn't Freyja in there!!) and stuff like that. David has learned that he has a HUGE backyard to mow now and kinda cursed it the first time mowing. You never know how big the thing really is til you're pushing heavy machinery around its slightly uneven terraine. Our lemon tree has fruit on it! We might just get a small pitcher of lemonade from it come end of summer! I threw a couple of tomatos out there too to try our luck and so far they seem to be doing ok...though I need something to help them grow upright. Freyja ADORES her huge yard and all the neat things there are to explore in it. I worry about the amount of spiders we have out there but so far we haven't had any "close" run in's or bites yet (and knock on wood we don't have any anytime soon!).

July is treating us well so far too. On the 1st dad vh and I took her to Sears to get her 2yr portraits done. She wasn't exactly in a picture taking mood but they did get some really cute shots of her!! Check out the Picasa 2yr photo shoot album to see them. The pix will be back the 17th and then our family pix will be back on the 23rd and I will mail them out then. On the 4th we went to an office party at Davids work and got to watch the big firework display from their balcony (he works right down on the water). Freyja LOVED the fireworks again this year and enjoyed being around all the people. We left right before the firework finale but still got stuck in traffic for an hour just trying to get out of the office subdivision. Pensacola's "finest" had no clue how to direct traffic... Freyja conked out before we even got out of the office parking lot and slept til we got home, woke up long enough to get out of the carseat and pass back out on my shoulder. Poor kid didn't even get changed to pjs that night!

Her birthday party was a huge success last weekend. We ended up with 17adults and 4kids! We moved it from our original location at the park to our house so that more people could make it and essentially make it more comfy on everyone with a/c and good food! David's friend Adam headed up all the cooking, our social lil butterfly took good care of all of her guests and played nicely with all the kids and even shared the fun of opening the gifts with the others. She even blew out her own candle this year!! I made cupcakes inside icecream cones this year and put a candle in hers, Cindy's and Sara's cupcakes since they were all our birthday girls and on the count of three my Miss Mess blew out her candle, licked the base of it and dove into the cupcake! Of course no birthday is complete without a few tears regretfully...bugg was running down the sidewalk, mis-stepped and went crashing down on one knee and even managed to hit her cheek on the concrete as well. She'll have a little bruise there for a bit but nothing too bad and we had already taken tons of pictures so it won't show up on any of her birthday pix.

As for the terrible twos...so far so good! I seriously don't think we're in for too much though she does have her daddy's temper! Potty training is just NOT happening quite yet, she tells us when she's done but thats it. I tried in June but it just ended in tears and frustration for her. I don't want to make this into something terrible for her so we'll take our time and try again after I work Rush in August at the bookstore. Maybe by then it'll have sunk in a little more and it won't be so terrible on her. Plus with the trip to MS coming up I'd hate for her to get confused or frustrated in a new environment. Now if we can just get daddy over the fact his little girl isn't ready yet...

So I guess thats all the news for now! Next month I am taking her to a Colbert family reunion in MS with my moms side of the family. Look forward to more pix and a note on how it went when we get back!