The Nelson's

Bye Bye Baltimore

2012-02-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I will head off to Utah to start a new phase for the Nelson Family. It has been surreal packing up all of our stuff and seeing the rooms empty as people from the w
ard have helped move everything into the moving truck.

This is where we really got started. This is where two crazy kids in love turned into a family. This is the place we came to when we first got our keys and were so excited and ordered chinese and ate it and watched TV it in the basement and I almost threw up cause I was pregnant with Zoey. This is the place we brought our newborn babies home to. This is the place where Linkin could run free in his yard, chasing the squirrels. This is the place Jake and I set up tents in our back yard just cause we felt like camping! This is the place Zoey climbed ont

o the roof when we weren't looking. This is the place Logan started walking at 9 months. This is the place we brought ALL of our IKEA furniture after a good Wednesday "as is" sale. This is the place we made AMAZING bbq ribs in our crockpot, and even better grilled pineapple on the grill. This is the place Jake and I watched our endless hours of redbox movies. This is the place I was so angry I threw a cupcake at the wall (of course I don't remember why I was angry). This is the place we piled the kids in the red wagon and Linkin on his leash and walked to the park and around the neighborhood. This is place we listened to our ice cream truck drive down the street every Sunday playing "Jingle Bells and "Deck

the Halls". This is the place that Jake's approval for graduation was sent. This is the place Jake and I spent many moments laughing at the cuteness of our kids, and the silliness of ourselves. This is the place that I will never want to forget a second of.

We love this house. We loved the lives we had here. We know it's time to move on and know lot's of good things come our way.

We are so grateful to my parents and Jake's parents for being so supportive in this big move. My parents came down so many weekends to help me

pack and keep me company. Jake's parent's are letting us into their homes and have done such a good job loving my kids while I was apart from them. We are so blessed to have them in our lives.

So... See ya Maryland. We will miss so much about this place.

signing papers to buy the house!

Zoey's First Halloween - 2 weeks

Logan 6 months

Jake and the kids

Zoey and Logan's Nursery

Our Home - 909 Olmstead Rd

My Last Day At Liberty High School

2012-01-27T19:12:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day at work. Yesterday was my last day with students. It was a great day. My student's threw me a party in one of my classes (the instructional assistants help them of course) and I just got to sit and talk with them and enjoy being one of the kids for the day. One of my students even stood up and serenaded me with "Time To Say Goodbye" in his "opera voice". You have to know this kid to know it was pretty hilarious AND awesome! He sang the WHOLE song in Italian. He is a big guy and quite the jokster! I loved every second of it.

My department threw me a little party on Tuesday after school. So many people came down to chat and say goodbye. I was really touched and feel really lucky to have worked in such a great school. Today they are having a cake for me (and I WILL be having some) and then me and some of my co-workers are getting some lunch.

I know I will be really sad to leave my classroom for the last time. It was definitely a place of many memories and moments of growth as an adult and teacher. I went from a new teacher right out of college, not married yet, and now I am a tenured teacher, married with kids. Wow. Time changes things.

I'm not sad though. I know my family is where I belong and that these past 5 years have just been stepping stones to the new adventures that await me. I am really ready to go. Two months ago tears formed in my eyes everytime I thought about having to leave my job. Today. I am just ready.

The Christmas Post That Never Was

2012-01-13T09:15:00.000-08:00

I've been slacking big time. I left my camera in Utah when I went out there for Christmas. Christmas 2011 was so wonderful! It was my 1st Christmas not being with my parent's. I sure did miss them and our traditions, but being with Jake's family and Zoey and Logan was so special.

I flew out Christmas Eve. I was so happy to see the kids and Jake. We got to go see Santa at the Mall. Zoey went running up to him. She loves Santa! Logan wasn't scared either. My kids amaze me with how content they are with everyone. We got our family picture and then the kids got the messiest chocolate lollipops and had a field day with them!

We spent the evening at Grandma Joy's house. It is ONE PACKED HOUSE with all of Aunt, Uncles and cousins! We did presents, and dinners and sang some songs and took lots of pictures. During presents Zoey had a moment of true concern when we saw other people opening presents, and she didn't have anything to open. Oh how they learn quickly!

The whole family love Zoey and Logan and it feels good to see them getting to play with other kids and be loved-on my everyone. I mean, they are freakin cute, so it's not hard to love them!

We put the kids to bed and started getting out all the presents for Christmas morning. Wow. They had a lot of presents for two little ones who really have no clue what's going on!

Christmas morning was so simple. Once the babies got up they played with a few toys left unwrapped from Santa and played with the toys in their stocking. Linda and Lloyd went to church and we got the kids down for a nap. We got to open presents will all of Jake's siblings while the kids slept. It was really nice to be with all of them. We all got some nice things and got to play with our own toys before the kids woke up.

Zoey and Logan loved opening all their toys. They got a play kitchen, Little People Farm, play camera and lots of good stuff. Zoey is very into opening presents now!

Christmas night after we put the babies to bed Jake and I headed to Salt Lake City for a little over nighter! We had a great time relaxing and sleeping in a king bed!

The rest of the week we just did fun things and I loved every minute being there!

The day before I flew to Utah I got a wicked tooth ache. It got so bad in Utah that the left side of my face was swollen up to my eye! I was miserable. The dentist thought I might need to go to the ER to receive antibiotics through an IV. Luckily Jake's uncle had some pretty awesome antibiotics he couldn't used and they helped so much! You can see in one of these pictures that I'm having a hard time smiling!

It was a very Merry Christmas! So fun to see them having fun and enjoying the holidays. Hopefully next Christmas we can get the WHOLE family together!!

Logan is 1!

2011-12-31T19:27:00.001-08:00

Logan turned 1 on December 8th! Here is a summary of who he is at this age...

I just melt everytime I look into his face. His brown eyes and ivory skin are so adorable! He has my eyes and my dimple, but otherwise he is all Jake!

He also has these really spaced out teeth on the top and when he laughs he looks so funny.

Logan is about 21.8 lbs.

He still only has 7 teeth (has had them since about 8 months).

He is still taking 2 naps a day and for the last 2 months has been sleeping 12-13 hrs a night.

He goes to bed/nap with a bottle and binkie.

He says, "mama" and "dog" and the other day Jake walked into the room and he looked at him and said "dada". sometimes he will try words you ask him to say, like "bubble" or "cupcake" but it comes out "baba" and "caca"

blows kisses

Will go down a slide by himself...usually head first

He still does "If your happy and you know it" and "roll your hands", and "so big"

He likes to feed himself with a spoon and eats whatever we are eating. He is a good eater!!

He pretends to talk on the phone by holding the phone behind his head

He likes to jump off things (sound familiar) but is more cautious than Zoey

He of course walks and climbs up and down stairs, on couches, coffee tables, no problem

He loves to run and give you hugs and kisses with a big open mouth

Loves Ice Cream

Starting to want more independence to do things himself

Growls when he is tired

Loves peekaboo

Logan is definitely his own little person. He is just as busy as Zoey, but he is so even tempered. He doesn't mind when Zoey comes stealing things out of his hands yelling at him "No Gi Gi, Mine!" He just let's her freak out and moves on to the next thing. Smart boy to learn so early to stay out of the way of a woman freaking out!

Sometimes I just watch him amazed that he is mine! What a lucky mommy I am to have such a sweet and beautiful baby boy!

Trip 1 To UTah

2011-12-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

My weekend trip to Utah beginning of Dec was PERFECT! The flights were on time (early even) and I even managed the whole row to myself on one of the flights! Dream come true, except I was too excited to sleep. Seeing Jake was wonderful!!!! I love my husband. We got to stay overnight in Salt Lake since Jake had to work in the morning and I didn't get in until 11:30pm. My husband all to myself... It was as good as a carribean cruise! Kinda.

I was so giddy to see the kids the next morning! I just hugged and kissed them to death. I couldn't believe how grown up Logan looked! He took a second to warm up to me, Zoey too. It was like they didn't believe I was REALLY there. We had so much fun though, playing and celebrating Logan's birthday.The only bad thing is being with Jake I just eat like crap!! Why is that? Popcorn and soda at the movies, a soft taco inbetween lunch a dinner. I would even think of doing it in Baltimore. I have to figure out where those choices are coming from and get a hold on it before I move out there.

Here we are at Kangaroo Zoo! I couldn't get Zoey to sit still long enough to get a picture!

It was so hard to leave, but in just a few short days I will be with them again! I will post tonight on all the fun stuff we did for Logan's birthday! Can't believe my baby is one!

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow....

2011-11-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

November came so fast and before you know it I had to say Goodbye to my little family. It was so hard to kiss them goodbye. I miss seeing their faces everyday and holding them and hugging them. I miss Jake and just being in his presence. Absence sure makes the heart grow fonder. I know how lucky I am to have a family that I just adore!

I can't wait for the 1st week of Dec when I get to kiss their faces again!

Look at this picture of Logan at the airport.... talk about breaking my heart!!

I'm coming soon my little man!!!!!!

Halloween In Pikesville

2011-11-12T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our street really knows how to do Halloween! Every year the neighborhood has a parade down our street....the skinniest street in the neighborhood....and of course they insist on leading the parade with a fire engine!

My parents and Charly came down for the festivities! We had a great day!

My duck and lady bug!

Charly was the CUTEST waitress with her costume made by my mom!

The fam

My lil duck boy!

Zoey got the hang of trick or treating really fast!!

She also got the hang of eating the candy really fast too!

Fall Time At Clarksville Farm

2011-11-12T18:59:00.000-08:00

We spent a perfect fall day at the Clarksville Farm! We will really miss this place!!!

Logan with the goats!

Logan and Daddy on the Cow Ride!!

Zoey Kissing on the Animals!

"Uh Oh!" Zoey opened one of the gates by accident letting 3 little goats escape!!

We could not get her off this Cow Ride!!! She loves it!

Feeling Good!

2011-11-03T11:02:00.001-07:00

I've lost 40lbs!! Yeah!!! Still have a bunch more to go, but I feel great! I feel like myself again.

My Dare Devils

2011-11-03T10:54:00.001-07:00

I have some gutsy kids!! I blame Jake! He loves to throw them around and do all sorts of crazy things with them and they love it.

Here are they are strapped in to the shopping cart with candy! The only way to survive the store!!!

Zoey all done!!! Geez! How did she get up there??

Logan ready to go down the slide!!! I had to catch him by his ankles! He's only 10 months people!

I didn't realize Jake had put up the ladder earlier that day, so after running errands with Zoey I let her go out in the back yard. 3 min later linkin was barking like crazy and for the 1st time ever thought "I wonder if he's trying to tell me something". Sure enough, there is Zoey on the roof. Just chillin!!!!

Zoey is 2!

2011-11-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Zoey is two!!! I am just loving how this little girl of mine is turning out! She is so sweet, yet has so much personality and life in her!

For her birthday we were in NY to celebrate with my family before our big move across the country! We had family over and played games and Zoey got to blow out her birthday candles (like a pro) and open presents! She got some adorable outfits and even got her very own trampoline!!

Here are a bunch of things about our 2 year old:

She can count to 10 with a little help

Knows her shapes

Can't get a color right for her life. She knows all the names of the colors, but NEVER gets it right if you ask what color something is. It's pretty funny!

Loves Dora, Monsters Inc and Up and Nick Jr. in general

She could never have enough ice pops or ice cream

Great at saying Please and Thank You when you give her something

Loves to say "Ready...Set...GO" and then have a race

Got out of her bath the other day and came around to where we were naked, soaking wet and in her dress up heels

Fold her arms, bows her head and closes her eyes during prayers

Is starting to memorize her books we read

Stamps one foot and crosses her arms when she doesn't get her way

Is really nice to Logan...even when he pulls her hair

Is in a "mine" phase

Wakes up screaming A LOT at night lately. I miss my amazing sleeper! Not sure if it's molars or night terrors

Loves to sleep with mommy and daddy if we let her!

Will cuddle now!

Loves to sing songs that have motions "Wheels on the bus" "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes"

Has the cutest little voice! She talks so much now. Tries every word and says 4 word sentences. My favorite of course is "I love you mommy" which sounds like one big slurred word!

Does not like it when people are sad. Even if she is crying....if you act sad she will run over and give you a big hug

Still a dare devil!

Starting to cut out her 2nd nap.

We're Moving!

2011-10-31T07:29:00.000-07:00

Four weeks ago Jake accepted a job in Taylorsville Utah. His first big boy job as a Jr. Business Analyst for an international bank! After a lot of thought and one last minute trip to the DC temple. we felt good about it and decided to take the huge leap of faith out west!

Jake and the kids leave on THURSDAY! That is 4 days from now. I will stay in Baltimore to finish my semester and pack up the house.

It has definitely been very bittersweet the past few weeks. Jake and I got very emotional when we sold our couch...the 1st couch we bought together when we were engaged. We have also sold the truck and a bunch of other things we have loved through years.

It is weird thinking my babies won't occupy their rooms anymore, and that Linkin can bark as loudly as he wants for the next several months!!

Jake and the babies are moving in with Jake's parents! They have been amazing with helping us with the transition. They built two rooms into their basements to make the kids feel at home. Linda is going to work from home for the 3 months to watch Zoey and Logan. Lloyd is here in Baltimore helping us fix up the house so I can try to sell it.

It is tons of work to move a family across the country, but we are excited for our family to start a new chapter. A chapter we can afford!! We don't see ourselves in Utah forever, but want to kids to know Jake's side of the family and for Jake to get a start on his career!

Well...... next time I write I will be missing my husband and kids like crazy! And will have more time to blog!! Thank goodness for SKYPE!!

Pretty Kiddies

2011-10-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

Anniversary Surprise! and USU

2011-10-07T19:45:00.001-07:00

Check out the awesome room we stayed in at Anniversary Inn when we were visiting Logan. They really know how to make their guest feel special. I thought the price was great for the room, but then we got all these awesome things. They even delivered us the tastiest hot dogs, freshly popped popcorn, and our choice of candy whenever we wanted it. (true drive in fashion). We got to pick a few movies to watch of the projector screen. We watched Pelican Brief (neither of us had seen it) and the Terminal.

Yes, that IS a truck in our room! In fact, that is our bed! The whole room was based around a Drive In theme, which something that we love.

Cheesecake and Water!

Flamless candles (we got to exchange for a real candle at check out), plus a bath fizz

Biggest, best jetted tub! You can't see the TV in the corner. Wish I could of taken a pic of Jake in the bath watching the Raven's game drinking sparkling cider. He was in heaven.

Sparkling cider because apparently no one would drink champagne!

Sodas chillin in an ice filled Coke Tub!

Amazing ortho-gel bed in the bed of the truck!

Our own private concession stand!!

The walls painted like a sunset

We headed to USU the next morning. It was so great to be on campus during the hustle and bustle of class changes. I have so many amazing memories there. It was really special to see it. I haven't been there since I graduated. Still the same old good Logan I remember!

The A..... aggie tradition to kiss on top of the A on a full moon friday!

Old Main

On the quad

Trip To Utah

2011-10-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

We had a great 5 days out in Utah with Jake's family! We survived both flights, which I seriously doubted we would. Jake sat behind me and we wined and dined them with toys, movies and snacks. They even both fell asleep BOTH flights. I would even be so bold to say I would do it again!

We stayed with Jake's family in Pleasant Grove. It was so nice to have some help with the kids and they adjusted pretty well, except for the sleeping at night thing. Apparently it's not needed some nights! :o)

Friday we got pictures done up in Draper (another post to come) and visited the Sweet Tooth Fairy.....a little dessert shop of my dreams (kinda). Friday night we went to Bday gathering for Linda's best friend and then headed over to Pleasant Grove High School to watch Jess cheer and do her half time routine. She did an awesome job and I loved being able to see her do her thing!

Saturday we got to see Jake's family and have a little celebration for Zoey. Jake's family is huge. I didn't have to much anxiety with all the millions of cousins running around as I have in the past. It must be because I have a few wild ones of my own. Some of Jake's friends stopped by to say Hi and then Jake and I went out to the movies with some of them. A scary movie people....which actually didn't turn out too scary and I enjoyed the twisted plot.

Sunday my brother came down with Will. It was great seeing Zoey and Will play so well together!! We went to the playground in between sessions. It was a really nice visit. Will is getting so big and Bry is such a good dad. I love seeing him do such a good job.

Jake and I headed up to Logan on Sunday evening, stopping in Salt Lake to see Jordan (bro #4) on his break from work and getting to see Linds (roomie from college) to for 3 min in a parking lot on her way to a much dreaded in-law event. I told Jake that we were staying with a friend of mine up in Logan. As we pulled into the Anniversary Inn Jake was like "They live at an inn". Oh honey. So close, yet so far away!! I have him convinced my friends lived in the basement of the Anniversary Inn until the lady asked if we were checking in and I responded YES. It was a really fun surprise. We stayed in a great room and really enjoyed getting an overnighter together. Happy 4th Anniversary honey!

Monday we spent some of the day visiting USU, getting some lunch and a free hydro-massage. On our way back down to PG, we stopped off in some of the newer developments to look around and see if one day we could see ourselves there. We know that it is possible to re-located their in the near future.

I got to do dinner with Tammy (a friend from NY) Monday night. We sure had fun chatting and thinking back to our crazier days!

We left on Tues, of course not forgetting to get some burritos at beto's on the way to the airport. It really was a nice visit. Jake has a great family and I love being a part of it!

Zoey loved everyone singing to her!

Zoey and Hope are best buds!!

Jake's cousins, but we will call them Zoey's cousins! Love these girls!

Cake AND Ice Cream. Zoey is sold on bdays!

And Presents! She loved and studied every gift! Except for the clothes Linda had in a bag with toys. She threw them out of the bag like they were tissue paper!!

Pro- Candle-Blower-Outer

Sqwirmy Logan and Grandma

Aunt Jess

Getting Dirty

Playin

Friends in Town

2011-10-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

I love love love it when I get to see my best friend! Meliss and Enoch drove to Baltimore for a concert and it just so happens that Sarah and Nick and their friends were going to be at the same concert. So we invited ourselves to some pre-concert tailgating and had a great time catching up! The kids got soo dirty, but whatev....their kids. They loved it!

Logan - 9 months

2011-10-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

Logan decided that 9 months was his BIG BOY month! He is a tiny little guy and yet is growing up so fast!

At his 9 month check up he weighed 19lb 6oz (40%) and was 60% height, but I don't remember how many inches.

Some Logan things....

- He has the BEST hair. It naturally fluffs itself and is great in a faux hawk!

- His eyes are still big and brown and with his blonde hair and fair skin I think he is pretty striking!

- He loves ice cream cones..... not the ice cream.....just good with the cone

- He is now putting himself to sleep and no longer needs to be rocked to sleep

- He still naps worse than Zoey

- He has the funniest teeth.... the two middle lower, a left upper, and now 4 more coming in on top and bottom....poor guy

- He walks (doesn't crawl anymore at all!)

- He jumps EVERYTIME we watch Baby Einstein and the fish jumps out.

- Loves his momma and says mama when he is upset

- Claps his hands and likes "if your happy and you know it" but is totally over doing "so big"

- Tries to reach buttons on DVD player

- Starting to wave

So in love with my little boy!

Rain Rain Go Away!

2011-09-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought the earthquake and hurricane would have been enough but then came the rain!

It has rained the past 6 days straight and not just sprinkles and cute little storms, but down pour after down pour. Road were flooded, cities evacuated, trees down, power out. Crazy stuff here.

Our basement got a bit of water in it. Thank goodness not enough to really damage anything, but I hate that wet smell.

School had a two hour delay on Thursday cause of power outages. I ended up going in anyway since I was up and worked on some cupcakes for this weekend.

The kids are completely oblivious to it all of course! I love that about them! Yesterday Zoey caught a bubble in her mouth and said "mmmm.... delicious". I didn't even knew she knew that word. It made me laugh. I love that girl.

Logan had his 9month check up and I will post more about that later. He is skinny and tall, but overall a happy little peanut!

Well... I wonder what natural disaster will hit us next week. In the meantime I will enjoy the weekend with the fam.

Natural Disaster Week!

2011-08-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

What a week!

I started off the new school year and it has been quite the week!

On Wednesday while I was at Wal-Mart picking up some things for my classroom the ground and the aisles started shaking. I was standing next to 2 other women and we just stood there staring at each other wide eyed! It only last 15 seconds or so. Apparently an earthquake (5.8) that generated in Virginia made its way up a lot of the east coast, even up to NY (my parents felt it). It was a bizarre experience, but there was hardly any damage. Jake didn't even feel it.

Tomorrow I doubt he will be able to avoid the natural disaster heading our way. Hurricane Irene is making its way up the east cost right now and it's a pretty big storm. We got a call today to expect several days without powers.....yuck! We have such huge trees surrounding us (one of them dead). I really hope we don't have any damage to the house and can stay safe as the storm comes through.

It is crazy to have 2 big events in 1 week, plus starting school is huge on its own. Tomorrow I am going to enjoy my Zumba class in the morning and then hurry and run all the errands we need before we are stuck in the house for a while!

Send a prayer our way and up the east coast if you can!

Summer Lovin

2011-08-21T22:00:00.001-07:00

Some shots of the kids from this summer. It was a great summer. We don't have a long list of crazy awesome things we did. Actually we hardly did anything at all, but we got to be together as a family everyday. I got to fall in love with these babies of mine even more !

Our Red Wagon

2011-08-21T21:54:00.001-07:00

We love our red wagon that Aunt Julie got us for Christmas! We love to go for walks down to the park!

I couldn't resist this picture of Logan falling asleep in the swing!

Logan's 1st Ice Cream Cone

2011-08-21T21:50:00.001-07:00

Logan could not just sit back and watch his big sis enjoy some ice cream. We had to get him a cone minus the ice cream to munch on. We put a spoonful of ice cream in there for him and he went to town!

Exercise with mommy...

2011-08-17T17:22:00.001-07:00

...Equals lollipops for the kiddies! I have been working my butt off to lose all my baby weight plus my "bad habits before baby" weight. I have been walking (pushing that double stroller isn't a walk in the park either ), doing the elliptical and my favorite .... zumba! My eating habits have changed completely (salmon fillet in the oven right now). I feel great! Down over 20 lbs... a bizillion to go. Even Jake is losing weight...mostly because of the shortage of food in the house!
This fall I'm hoping to start teaching dance again and will get a free gym membership with it! I feel more like myself and less like the fat chick that took over my body for a while there.

Becoming Friends

2011-08-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Zoey loves to hug Logan and she thinks she should carry him around. This is not his favorite thing!

Zoey is doing a great job with sharing for the most part. She always shares her snacks with him. He will just follow her around and wait for her to pass it over! Sometimes we have to remind her to share, but she rarely refuses. Ok...so sometimes she throws a little fit, but overall I am pretty impressed! She doesn't push, or bite or hit....yet...

Logan loves to play and be silly with Zoey. They play on the bed with Jake and he wants to get thrown around by his daddy just like Zoey gets thrown around! I love when they giggle together!

I love my babies!! Today I was telling Jake that Logan is really catching up to Zoey in size and soon they will look like twins. They will be so cute running around together!

Life Is Over As We Know It...

2011-07-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

... at least for me and Jake. Ok....sleep is over for us. Ok... that's not true either, but bedtime tonight is a killer! As some of you know, both my kids are teething. Most of you know putting them to bed is a marathon for me, especially when I have to do it alone. Kids 13.5 months apart....BAD IDEA STACEY! And to think we were thinking of trying for #3 this summer. BAD- er IDEA STACEY!

I knew this was bound to happen. After all I have a monkey for a toddler. I put her to bed and she obviously doesn't want to go down so she screams and screams. Since Logan is still up I figure I would give her 5 minutes to try and get herself together and then I would intercept with plan b, whole milk in a bottle (my pediatrician would kill me!). So she is screaming and screaming and then all of a sudden she just stops. Weird....... And then...... She appears before my very eyes. She made her way out of the crib, out of her room, down the stairs and then to me. DAMAGE!

I let her play since Logan is still up anyway, but Logan is getting grumpy so I try again. I lock the gate at the top of the stairs, but a few minutes later she is crying at the gate. Me no likey my friends.

She takes off into the other room and I follow a few minutes later to find her in her high chair. It is a HIGH chair. I have no clue how she climbed her way into it. For a second I thought maybe there was a random stranger in the house assisting her in all these ninja moves. You think if I found him he would help me get the kids to bed? He could rob the house even.

At this point Logan has lost it, so I give Zoey an ice cream cone and put on Dora. (I hate being "that" parent, but I can't have her bursting through Logan's door. I need complete distraction and Ice Cream and Nick JR are key!) I know I have about 10 minutes before she will start screaming for me. I say a prayer as I rock Logan to sleep. If I can get him to sleep then I might have enough patience to wait out Zoey to exhaustion.

As we speak she is shoving her face in front of the screen saying "hi". So....hi from Zoey everyone.

Any mom's out there....I need all the advice in the world right now. How will I solve this problem? Should I get a toddler bed tomorrow?

Ok, well the "boring the life out of her" strategy while I type this post doesn't seem to be working. Off to the next! Night blogland!

Storyville

2011-07-21T19:45:00.001-07:00

Today I took the kiddies to Storyville at the Woodlawn library. We met up with friends from church.

The place was a toddler's haven. Both Zoey and Logan loved it. They had a tree house, train, house, kichen, grocery store.... It is completly kid friendly...and free.

I can't wait to take them back!

My Mr. Man-ee is 6 months and Lovin It!

2011-06-30T20:14:00.001-07:00

Logan (whom I call Mr. Man-ee) is my busy little 6 month old! He didn't want to be too left in the dust by his busy sister so he has been working hard to be a big boy!

From the time he figured out how to get on his hands and knees he was crawling in 5 days flat (which I totally predicted like a good mommy would!)

A few days after that he started pulling himself up to stand! It is always cute to see him just standing in his crib waiting patiently for mommy or daddy to come! lol.
Other things Logan loves are sitting in his high chair and having a snack like puffs or yogurt melts. He is good a chewing them up with his toothless gums! (no teeth yet)

He is super happy to crawl around and play with his toys. He will follow you around the house if you call for him!

While this little guy is super cute, he sure has been waking up super early this past week. 6am-6:30am is rough for up grumpy non-morning people!

At his 6 month check up he only weighed 17lb 6 oz. 45% The dr says he is just moving too much to put on any weight. She also apologized to me and Jake for have 2 very highly active kids! As she was saying this Zoey was climbing and jumping off of everything and anything giving our dr a small heart attack! She also thinks Logan might be walking at 8 months! Oh heavens help us!! I bet he walks at 9 1/2 or 10 months like Zoey. They are so alike in so many ways! (Did I mention how our flight out to Utah with the 2 of them might be the worst day of me and Jake's lives?!) Linda... Hope you know how much we love you to be flying across the country with the two of them!

We love our GI GI (as Zoey calls him) and Bugsey as Jake calls him. I love his fluffy long blonde hair and big eyes! He is just so fun to have around!

Perfect Picture!

2011-06-28T20:41:00.001-07:00

Our photo shoot was a nightmare and this picture sums up that moment and our lives perfectly right now!

Jake's Graduation Surprise!

2011-06-23T20:53:00.001-07:00

Remember a long time ago when Jake graduated? Ok. It was only last month but it was really exciting for our lil fam!

We are so proud of Jake. One night while he was working me and the kiddies went and got stuff to decorate his car while he was at work. Zoey was pretty excited about the balloons.

When jake saw his car he texted me and said "Are we in high school? " in which I responded 'yes actually'. The students at school do this all the time.

Congrats jake! We are beyond proud of you. We know it wasn't easy.

Brushing Teeth

2011-06-23T20:43:00.001-07:00

This girl loves to brush her teeth. I have to pry to toothbrush from her fingers every night.

The Post That Never Was.....But It Really Was

2011-06-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

I have written about 6 posts through my phone and Jake's phone but the silly application hasn't been able to successfully publish my posts. Annoying. I am working on it.

In short....

Life is good

Logan is crawling

School is OVER!!!

Jake Graduated

Those aren't in order either!

More to come!

Cupcakes

2011-06-10T21:18:00.001-07:00

So busy with cupcakes lately! Here is a wedding I just did.

And he's out

2011-05-27T16:12:00.001-07:00

Logan is now sleeping in his new (Zoey's old) crib. Usually he prefers to have his wocket to cuddle with. This time he thought it beter on his face.

Zoey- Our 18 month Old

2011-05-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Zoey is a busy little toddler! She has so much life in her...place to go, things to do, messes to make! She may be petite but this girl has big plans!

Here are some of the things we know, love and don't love about Zoey

She was only 23 pounds at her 18 month check up

She loves Barney and Elmo (Ba-yee and Elmee)

Some of her favorite animal sounds to make are a dog, monkey, cat, owl, chicken, duck, cow, sheep, lion, bear and she is working on a horse. If we say "eat your chicken, she says 'bahk bahk"

She says lots of words now....some of our favorites that she says are cookie and cupcake and "tickle tickle tickle" which she says as "googie, googie, googie"

NO is Zoey's favorite word, and she shakes her head and says NO at the same time. You can't miss it

She says mommy really well now! FINALLY!

She LOVES her shoes and loves putting them on!

She loves her back yard including her slide and sandbox and swing.

She loves ALL THINGS BALL!! She is pretty good at throwing balls, too.

She loves brushing her teeth, then saying a prayer before bed.

She has a puzzle that has 6 different doors and there are animals behind the doors. She has memorized what animal is behind each door. It's fascinating to me.

She can slide down the stairs in 2 seconds....seriously. And it's a lot of stairs and steep!

She still takes 2 naps a day and sleeps about 11 hrs! It's glorious except for Sundays when church throws everything off for everyone.

She likes to help change Logan's diapers, throw out trash and help clean whenever she can.

When she doesn't get her way her whole body goes limp and she falls on the floor furious at us. I guess Jake should stop doing that when he doesn't get his way. (lol. jk)

When we go to a store she LOVES to run free everywhere! It's impossible to keep her in the cart very long. Going to the store either requires the whole family, or a very focused short trip with lots of snacks to distract!

When she is mad at me or Jake she release her anger by smacking Logan on the top of his head.

She loves to give kisses and hugs.

She eats EVERYTHING. It's great....chicken, shrimp, all veggies, fruits, yogurt, hot sauce...

She is so brave. Nothing really scares her. She gets shy sometimes, but a big kid slide at the park by herself...no prob.

She is very independent. She wants to do things on her own. She doesn't want to ever hold my hand. She won't let me help her down the steps, or let me feed her or EVER cuddle her! lol. This is why I have Logan.

We love our Zoey. She is quite the diva some days, but we are trying to teach her about love, and family and Jesus and about being a good girl. We hope she continues to be excited to learn.

Circus Cupcakes

2011-05-01T13:34:00.001-07:00

Our neighbor's little boy had his first birthday today. Here are the cupcakes I made for his circus themed party.

Farm Pictures Continued

2011-04-23T18:34:00.001-07:00

Here are the ones we took with jakes phone!

Spring Break 2011 Day 2: The Zoo

2011-04-23T18:33:00.001-07:00

All the easter egg hunts we wanted to go to got rained out so we ended up at the zoo. My parents came down for the day and brought Charly. We love it when they come.

Zoey loves her cousin Charly! By the end of the day Zoey had figured out how to say her name.

The zoo was hosting some easter events like an egg hunt, meeting the easter bunny, face painting and a few other games.

It rained half the time but then the sun came out and it was beautiful!

The kids were great. Zoey walked the whole 4 hrs checking out all the animals. Everyone loved her zebra face and zebra jaket. She was saying all her animal words and sounds.Logan also was a trooper and was happy being passed back and forth and then ultimately snoozing in the stroller.

I love my family so much! It was a perfect day!

Spring break 2011 Day 1: The Farm

2011-04-23T17:50:00.001-07:00

Since I only got fri and mon we definitely wanted to do what we could. We found this cute little farm in Columbia. It was raining and cold the whole time so we will have to go back on a better day. It had all of Zoey's favorite animals and fun whimsical play houses.

I love seeing Zoey discover! She is fearless and excited to learn and so darn cute!

And aren't these rain boots and jacket from aunt meliss the cutest?!

Mommy and Logan

2011-04-18T16:50:00.001-07:00

My favorite time of the night.....just me and Logan hanging out after breastfeeding.

Don't worry people... I'm wearing a tank top! Lol.

Ice Cream Sundae Competition

2011-04-08T17:48:00.001-07:00

With my advanced foods students we do a unit on garnishing. I teach them some dessert garnishes and we have a competition. Here are a few of them.

Approved...

2011-03-27T16:56:00.001-07:00

For graduation !!

What's cuter then a sleeping baby?

2011-03-24T19:39:00.001-07:00

Logan is kinda cute when he sleeps

Happiest baby ever

2011-03-13T12:22:00.001-07:00

He's this had happy whenever he wakes up.

Sunday Snooze

2011-03-13T10:48:00.001-07:00

Viet Namese Food with Friends

2011-03-12T11:26:00.001-08:00

Jake's buds from work invited us to lunch to try some authentic viet namese food. It was really good. Here are some pics of the pho which is the main course and some pics of zoey eating noodles!

Through the Good and the Bad

2011-03-02T18:56:00.001-08:00

Jake and I knew that these last two semesters were going to be hard. Having opposite schedules, two babies, no family around, no money, we knew we were gonna have to hold onto our horses and just get through it. We didn't expect the car trouble, the $700 heating bill, the $10,000 I need in dental wok (all of this was in one week), the sick babies, the sick momma etc etc. I have to say that the past few months have been the most challenging in my life, and at the same time so rewarding.

I have two beautiful babies! They are growing and becoming their own people before my very eyes. Zoey loves to make us laugh and Logan charms us all with his smiles and cooing. I get so excited to come home from school and see them with their daddy who does such an amazing job with them.

I have a husband who is a super dad! He plays with them, changes poppy diapers, feeds them, takes them to the dr, takes them on errands, teaches them and loves them so much. I don't know if I could do what he does staying home all day with them, doing school full time and working all while still being a great husband! I love my husband more everyday. We knows that coming into the bedroom with hot chocolate and my favorite candy after a hard day will make it all better. He knows that after trying to rock Logan to sleep for hours that he better take over so I don't freak out. I love spending time with him whether its shopping, or cuddling up to watch CASTLE, or making cupcakes together. I am so thankful that this tough period in our lives has brought us closer together, and that he makes my life so joyous.

I know that one day my kids will be grown up and out of the house and Jake and I will financially be comfortable, and we will have date nights and as much nap times as we please and will be able to sleep in on Saturdays and stay out late and keep the house clean for more than 20 minutes. I also think that I will think back to this time in my life and miss it more than anything!! For that reason I am gonna really cherish every second that I can! (maybe not the root canals though!)

Guess What ? I'm 11 weeks and...

2011-02-28T17:25:00.001-08:00

I rolled over today!

Logan 2 Months

2011-02-19T05:26:00.000-08:00

How have I lived all my life without this little sweetie pie. It has been so much fun having him in our lives for the past 2 months. He does his very best to be a good baby for us, which is a huge help when we are busy pulling Zoey down off all the furniture!!

At Logan's 2 month appt he weighed 12 1/2 pounds and was 23 1/2 inches long which puts him in the 75% range still.

Logan is such a good little sleeper! We swaddle him up at 8:30 and he is often down till 5am the next morning. He will eat and snooze again.I KNOW!! WE ARE LUCKY! Some nights he gets up 2 times to eat, but he always go right back down. Being back at work, and being on my own at night and waking up for a feeding or 2 at night makes me pretty exhausted and so his good sleeping helps so so much!

Logan loves to talk and smile! He coos and coos for as long as you will socialize with him. I hope he is really outgoing and a go getter!

He also loves to cuddle.......which I LOVE, and he will snuggle up in the moby wrap and take a nap.

We just love him. I know he purposely came to our family to give us all kinds of joy and blessings.

A Great Saturday

2011-02-13T21:00:00.001-08:00

We had a great Saturday as a little family. After a really long hard week it was really needed. We woke up with no plans for the day and after everyone had a good morning nap we set out for some lunch and window shopping. We ended up at this cute little place called Grilled Cheese & Co. It was packed! I guess everyone loves a good grilled cheese.

Afterwards we headed to Elliott City for some window shopping. We got to test out the new double strolled! We are now That family! We got a few cute things from a few shops including a giant pb cup from a candy shop.

Zoey was pooped from all the fun as u can see.

That night we had friends over. They have a little girl Zoeys age and they love to play. We all just chatted for hours. It's so nice to have good people around us. We really love the Christensens and are sad they are leaving till July!
I love my weekends with my family. Having 2 kids has been crazy but so great too! Can't wait for warmer weather for more great weekends!

Logan Likes HGTV!

2011-02-12T14:47:00.001-08:00

Looks like he's a fan of color splash too!
Isn't terrible that Jake planted him in front of the tv? I'm both appalled and amused!

First visit to Chuck e Cheese!

2011-02-05T19:14:00.001-08:00

Today since grandma and grandpa Hettinger and Charly came to visit we thought we would try out Chuck e Cheese. Here are a few pics from today!

Pictures of Zoey from Last Summer

2011-01-14T05:27:00.001-08:00

We just got these pictures back from our friend Katie who did a great job taking them! More to come of more recent pics of Zoey and Baby Logan!

My Cutie Pies

2011-01-08T20:02:00.001-08:00

Being a mother of 2 is very different from being a mother of 1. When its just me and Zoey or me and Logan.... it feels like a vacation. When it's just me with both of them.... it feels more like a natural disaster. But, I am adjusting, learning new tricks and getting smarter by the day. I mean...I have two great little kids. It's not hard because they are difficult. It is hard because they have such different needs as a newborn and a 14 month old. Both are still babies that need lots of attention from momma, Logan just wants to be held and cuddled all day and Zoey wants to discover and move and explore. The two don't mix and so it just becomes a lot of strategy.

I have now successfully brought them on two outings to target and babies R us on my own...and we all survived. And this weekend I am by myself cause Jake is spending the weekend with friends in Boston. Today went well, but we will see what the night brings and another full day on my own. I love these little rug rats. Here are some pictures from the last week or so.

Logan almost 1 month chillin on dad's legs

Sitting together.

Logan not pleased to be on the rug and out of our arms

Zoey's new creepy smile! Makes me laugh everytime. I know her hair is terrible looking! I am waiting for it to grow into long flowing locks!

Christmas In Baltimore

2011-01-08T19:17:00.000-08:00

Because of all the baby excitement going on with us we decided to stay put for Christmas this year. This was the first Christmas EVER I have not been in NY with my family. I was lucky though and didn't have to do it without my parents who drove down to our house for Christmas.

It was really fun to make some memories in our home with our little ones for Christmas. I can't wait till they are both running around excited out of their minds for Santa! For now.... it's just Jake doing that!!

I love how excited Jake is for Holidays, especially Christmas. He is all about traditions!

Zoey opening 1 of the MANY presents Santa brought!

She was so overwhelmed by it all that after an hour she did her baby sign language for sleep and walked herself to her room for a nap!! Can you see it in this pic?

Grandma brought Linkin a snuggie for Christmas. Too bad I'm covering the whole thing

Dad and Linkin....best buds.

Logan was passed out the whole time. But he had matching pj's with Zoey and was pleased with all his gifts!

After presents we had breakfast and then we packed up my parents and off they went. They took Zoey with them back to NY for some one on one time. She loved being in a new house and spoiled my grandma and grandpa. Jake and I just stayed in bed the rest of Christmas with Logan and ordered Chinese food and were LAZY! It was perfect!

It was a really great Christmas. I really felt the spirit through the season, thinking of the Savior being born. Holding Logan and cuddling him really made me think of Mary and how she must have felt with a newborn that would grow into a man that would die for the sins of the world. I wonder if she was overwhelmed, or nervous or just confidant in God's plan for her. It is fascinating to me and strengthens my love of Christ and his mission on earth.

Baby Logan's Arrival

2011-01-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

On December 8th at 6:00pm Logan Hyrum Nelson joined the family!! Things went so much better this time around. My induction was pushed back to Tues Dec 7th 8pm. With Jake and I not having any family coming in until Wed, we decided that Jake should drop me off at the hospital and go home and get a good night sleep and be with Zoey. I really didn't mind being on my own in the hospital. Since I wasn't dilated or anything I expected it to be a pretty boring night anyway, but once they inserted the cytocec, the contractions started. They were coming every 1 1/2 min, and lasting a min. They were bareable though. I was just thrilled to be having contractions. I didn't really sleep and by 5am I asked for some pain killers. They gave me Stadol (sp?) and man, it made me loopy and basically passed me right out.

I got checked a few hours later and made it to 4cm! (compared to Zoey labor where I didn't make it to 4 cm for 3 days!) Jake came just as I was getting my epidural about 10am. The contractions were stronger and I figured I might as well get the epi before I was beyond miserable. It felt great for a few hrs and then started wearing off. Next time I will really try to hold out on the epi till I'm further along.

They broke my water and things just progressed so nicely from there. By 5pm I was ready to start pushing but apparently so were 2 other girls. That's when my fav OB came waltzing in, Dr. Sorra. She delivered Zoey and I just love her. I was really bummed when her shift ended at noon earlier in the day but thankfully all the girls delivering at the same time demanded more help and she had to come back in and she picked me to deliver! yeah!

I pushed for 15 min. I felt EVERY THING. It was pretty miserable, but thankfully it was 15 min and according the Dr. Sorra I am an "excellent pusher". Well....its good motivation when it hurts like that!!

Logan came out and they put him on my chest and I was soo happy to see him. He weighed 9 lb 6oz! That was a shocker. I knew I was big, but I would never thought over 9 lbs!! They took him to the nursery cause he was "talking" which was like a quiver instead of a full out cry so they just wanted to check him out. It was better than way cause I was hemmoraging and the dr's worked on me for a while.

The best surprise where my crazy parents showed up. They drove the 5 hours from NY just to see the baby and then left!!! lol. I got to sit and talk with them a bit while I got to eat some food. Jake had to go and get Zoey and see his mom who had flown in a few hours earlier, so it was nice to relax and have my parents to talk to. I really appreciated them being there and felt really loved.

After they left I got transferred to my other room and got to have some alone time with Logan. It was so nice to cuddle him up and be there alone with him. Jake came back and few hours later and then Jake left for home and the nurse took Logan to the nursery so I could get some sleep.

The next day Zoey and Grandma Nelson came with Jake to meet Logan. Zoey wasn't too interested, which is better than jealous. She does give kisses and likes to help hold the bottle.

We have been home for 3 weeks now and are really loving our Logan. He has been so good and cuddly, and just a sweetie pie. Breastfeeding is going pretty well and he loves to sleep which has been helpful with Zoey such a busy girl. I can't imagine our family without him!

ummm. pregnant much?

2010-11-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

so...this pic makes me look REALLY REALLY preg...but then again.... I am really really preg. I am much bigger with baby logan than I was with Zoey! Zoey I could hide my pregnancy pretty easily up until that last few weeks. Not so much this time.

I am 38 weeks in this pic. Today I am 39 weeks and 2 days. After a great week off of school, I go back to teaching tomorrow. It will be hard going back to the grind after such a great relaxing week. As long as I can make it through each day without going into labor at school I will be satisfied.

This pregnancy has been much harder than my first. For 3 weeks I had really bad back pain that made it so hard to walk, sit, stand, roll over in bed, bend over and work in general! One day last week, it just went away I think due to the baby moving off the nerve causing the pain!

Logan moves so much more than Zoey. You can see my entire stomach moving. He is not afraid to stretch out that little body of his. I often can feel his feet and arms punching out on all sides of my stomach and his head smashing into my bladder ALL AT ONCE!
I haven't really felt any contractions during this pregnancy and have been feeling pretty great this last week making me think I might have to induce this lil sucker out like his sister, but in the last day I have been having more natural signs of labor that give me hope to going into labor on my own this week!

Jake's mom is coming out next Wed to help us and I am sure my mom will be on her way down as soon as we give her the "it's time" call. I have def learned to not expect much when it comes to labor and delivery. All I am hoping for is a smooth, shorter labor and smooth shorter recovery.

I can't wait to meet my little boy and put a name with a face!

Getting the Tree

2010-11-28T17:58:00.001-08:00

I had a whole week off of school for Thanksgiving and it was just the break I needed! Jake and I took the opportunity to get into the Christmas spirit not knowing how into Christmas we would be able to get with a newborn and Zoey keeping us busy! We got out the lights, decorations and most importantly, got our Christmas tree!

Mom Dad and Charly came down to spend some of the week with us and we had so much fun bringing them with us to the Pine Valley Christmas tree farm. We were the only ones there on a Tues afternoon (cause apparently everyone else gets their tree AFTER thanksgiving!) but we loved having free roam of the place....zoey especially.

Jake took to tree hunting VERY seriously and after a good hour back and forth we got the perfect tree! Jake cut it down, threw it in the back of truck and then we all went out for Mexican food! It was a great day!

Zoey holding 1 red m&m that got all over her clothes and face!

The tree hunting crew!

She loved every minute being in the cool fresh air!

Jake with the tree! (and his fly down) :o)

Uncle Jake and Charly

13 months!

2010-11-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

I have just been fascinated watching her learn so fast! It seems like every day she is picking up a new word, or new baby sign, or making a new animal sound.

She loves her books. She will carry a book to you and demand it be read! lol. She LOVES LOVES her book of words and if you say "What does a monkey say?" she will say "oooo ah ah ah" (like a monkey) then go to the other side of the house, find her book, bring it to you and open to the page with the monkey and show it to you. She loves all those words in the book and finding the ones she knows when you ask her.

Today the babysitter was reading her a book about baby Jesus. When she said the word Jesus, Zoey turned around and pointed to the picture of Jesus on her wall. She loves her pictures of Jesus around the house!
We have been working a lot on Baby Signs. I look up the American Sign Language Sign for different words and teach them to Zoey. She is learning them really fast. She does MORE, ALL DONE, SLEEP/NAP, PLEASE, EAT. Of course when she wants something she will not do PLEASE. She prob wishes she knew the sign for GIVE ME NOW!

I am just loving this stage of her life!! The only complaint I have is that she does not say Mama. She says "ma!" sometimes but we think its only when she is tired. Maybe she just thinks I am the hired babysitter! lol. She doesn't say dada a ton either though. Either way, we love her!!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

Our neighborhood really knows how to do Halloween! Every year they have a huge parade right down our street with firetruck and all with kids and families of all ages trailing behind in their costumes! The parade goes down to the park and everyone hangs out until they start doing costume judging! After all the prizes are given out everyone takes off for trick or treating. Our neighborhood is perfect for trick or treating with the houses nice and close together!

Everyone just sits outside on their lawn and hands out candy. Jake and I thought having 100 pieces of candy we would be set. Nope. We ran out within an hour and had to go inside and feel guilty! It was fun to dress up Zoey and Linkin as bumble bees. Yeah for Halloween!!

This little bumble bee won for her costume in the 0-2 year old category!

Zoey and Jake. Jake wasn't dressed as anything. He just hadn't changed since church.

Walking in the parade

Zoey got this adorable outfit from a family friend for her Birthday! It was perfect that Halloween fell on a Sunday. She looked sooo cute! Thanks Ann!!

My Oct Wedding

2010-11-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from the Wedding I ran in Oct! It was physically just exhausting being so pregnant and putting the whole outdoor wedding together...but it was a huge success and I loved every second of it!

The wedding was super casual. No assigned seating, buffet style food, beers etc... Her colors were grey and yellow which came together really nicely. It was the perfect fall day for this outdoor wedding!

More of Zoey's Birthday Party

2010-11-12T19:35:00.000-08:00

I finally got a second to put some pics on the computer and thought I would share a few more from Zoey's party!

Here is my best friend, Aunt Melissa (20 week preg) trying to open a present for Zoey! lol. I found this slightly amusing! (Meliss had just found out that week she is having a boy!! We are having boys 3 months apart! It's perfect!)

The pile of presents!! Zoey is one loved lucky little girl!!!

Jake did such an awesome job with the streamers I had to get a picture of them! I HEART the black and white polka dot streamers!

We have a 1 year old!

2010-10-21T19:06:00.001-07:00

On Oct 15th Zoey turned 1! We just love our Gooey! She is learning and growing so fast. We are fascinated and entertained by her on a daily basis. Here are some things we know about Zoey:

~She weighs 20lbs 7oz (1 week before her bday)

~She has 6 teeth with the 7th coming in next to the bottom two

~She says dog, cat, that, ma!, dadada

~She is a great sleeper, taking 2 naps a day and sleeping 11 hours at night.

~She loves to put herself to bed with a bottle and a binkie.

~She still loves her baths and gets them almost every night

~She loves to watch me cook ( I sit her in her chair to watch me)

~She is a daddy's girl!

~She knows "more" and "all done" baby signs, waves hi and bye, does So BIG, patti cake, clap your hands, knows where my nose and belly button are and where her own belly button is

~She loves big open spaces to run around. Always on the move!

~She dances

~She points to everything

~She loves animals...poor linkin and bentley (our cat)

~She loves her little movies (Baby Einstein etc...)

~She scrunches her face when she smiles, bearing ALL her teeth

~She grunts when she is frustrated and arches her back (We can see future tantrums in the near future)

~She has a bleach blonde spot in her hair that Jake loves and I am unsure about!

Well there are millions of things about Zoey. I could go on for days like any proud parent would. We can't wait to see what the next year will bring! We love you Zoey!

Zoey's First Birthday Party!

2010-10-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

We headed to NY to spend Zoey's 1st birthday with Family! We had a polka dotted cupcake party (of course). It was so nice to spend Zoey's special day with people we loved! The people who came were grandma, grandpa, Aunt Jessy, Charly, Aunt Melissa, GG(grandma), Aunt Julie, Uncle Bob, Chris (Katie's boyfriend), Debbie and Barbara.

Zoey got sooo many gifts! It was so fun to open presents (well....Charly did most of the opening) and have cupcakes and see Zoey make a mess of herself!

Strawberry and Choc Cupcakes!

Zoey being Zoey!

Daddy, Zoey and Pregnant Mommy

Yummy Cupcake!

"what in the world?"

Zoey getting her first baby doll!

Pressing Buttons on a new toy!

The desserts

Zoey and Daddy

Zoey loves Charly!!

Oct 4th - Zoey's Due Date

2010-10-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

I have been really reminiscent lately as I watch Zoey running around the house doing her own thing and really growing into a special little person. I think back to last year how Oct 4th (Zoey's due date) came and went with no inkling that she was coming. Today last year I was going to school annoyed to still be teaching over my due date! I felt great and was bummed I wasn't timing contractions (or even having 1 single contraction!)

Zoey 3 days old

Zoey 11 months old

Well in 10 days Zoey will be 1 and this past year will just be precious memories to me. In 2 months I will have a new little one and Zoey will be my big girl. I know that this 1 year when I had Zoey all to myself will hold a special place in my heart!

Happy Birthday Jake!

2010-10-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

27 on the 27th!!

In the midst of our crazy semester, Jake and I found time to celebrate his Birthday! I surprised him by taking him to get Korean BBQ! It is always so great to see Jake shocking Korean people with how well he speaks the language. I let him just do all the ordering and sat back as he chatted it up with everyone! He said it was pretty authentic to what it was like when he was in Korea. Each table has its own grill and our server cooked the food in front of us. (In Korea you cook your own!) We got pig bellies. I don't have a huge taste for Korean but I always enjoy going with Jake for the experience!
Cooking up some pig bellies!

Jake with all of the side dishes that come out the SECOND you sit down!
Looks like bacon, but had a really mild taste more like a pork chop.

For Jake's actual Birthday (Mon Sept 27) I had work and Jake had class so it wasn't the most exciting day, but Zoey and I had some presents, mexican food and a carvel ice cream cake waiting when he got home!

We hope you had a good birthday Jake! We love you!!!

Ready for Bed

2010-09-26T18:05:00.001-07:00

After a nice bath, a fuzzy pair of slippers and a bath robe, Zoey is ready for bed. In this picture she is telling me "make my bottle and put me to sleep NOW!"

Horray for Souffle!

2010-09-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

This semester I am teaching ProStart 2, which is a professionally based class for students looking into the culinary industry. I love it because it is such a small class....only 6 senior boys, and we get to do a lot of cooking. Most days I just give each student a recipe, we put on the radio, they put on their chef jackets and we all just get to work. It's a great atmosphere for them and they are all relaxed and enjoy the class a lot. I enjoy the class a lot too!! It is nice to work at this level with students, really seeing them learn and knowing them and their capabilities. My other classes are just jammed packed with kids and it becomes more about babysitting and making sure they aren't hitting each other with wet towels! Lovely right?

Last week we tried to make a cheese souffle and they all came out bad!! So we did a little research (aka watched Alton Brown from Good Eats makes a souffle) and we tried again! This time we did Chocolate Souffle and they turned out great! This is a picture of them with their souffles.

Here is the recipe for anyone daring to try:

Ingredients
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
3 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch salt
pinch cream of tartar
Directions
Heat oven to 375° F. Use 1 tablespoon of the butter to grease on 16-ounce or two 8-ounce ramekins. Coat the ramekins with the cocoa, tapping out the excess.
In a large bowl, over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and remaining butter. Stir occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Whisk in the yolks one at a time until smooth. Set aside.
In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with the sugar, salt, and cream of tartar until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Gently fold the egg-white mixture into the chocolate. Spoon into the ramekins. (The recipe can be made to this point up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.)
Bake until puffed and set, 40 minutes for a 16-ounce soufflé, 20 minutes for two smaller ones. (If baked directly from the refrigerator, add 5 to 10 minutes.) Serve immediately with Custard Sauce.

Gog and Cak

2010-09-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Somehow Jake and I had a feeling mama and dada wouldn't be the first words Zoey would say. We were right. Zoey's first words are GOG (dog) and CAK (cat). We read a little book all the time that says how "little dogs go ruff ruff ruff" and "cats and kittens say 'meow' " Well, Linkin and our temporary cat (he is leaving us on Wed due to my allergies ) certainly do a lot of "ruffing" and "meowing" so whenever they do she says "GOG!!" or "CAK". It's pretty darn cute! We have yet to catch it on camera!

And no these are not my cute animals, but I wish they were!!

Together...

2010-09-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

...Is my favorite place to be! Happy 3rd Anniversary To Us!

Our Trip To Utah

2010-09-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

In August, we made a trip out to Utah! It was our last horrah of the summer...a summer we were not ready to part with! We got to do so many things while we were out there and it was so nice spending time with Jake's family and seeing his friends.

We got to attend Lindsay's wedding while we were there (my college roomie). The temple sealing was really beautiful and the whole day was perfect for her. It was the first sealing Jake and I have been to since we got married and I have never been in the Salt Lake temple, so it was a special day for us! We even got to go to the Macaroni Grill where we had our first date and also ate the night Jake proposed!

Linda is such a great Grandma and threw our upcoming arrival a little shower to help us get in the zone for having a boy! She is a pro when it comes to details and put so much thought into all of it. It was the perfect weather and great company and I'm glad we got to do that!

Zoey loved all the attention she got from Jake's cousins! She is so excited to have a brother to play with!!

While we were in Utah we got to go to the temple where we were sealed, got to go to some Education Week classes at BYU, got to see a bunch of Jake's friends and Jake got to go on a weekend camping trip with his buds, and Zoey got lots of love from Jake's family! It was really great!

We love you Nelson Family!!! Thanks for a great trip to end our summer!

Zoey 10 months

2010-08-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

First Step

2010-07-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

Zoey took a step today. I am such a proud mama! (now if I could get her to say mama!) She would only take one step and then would stand there thinking about it and then would sit down to crawl the rest of the way to me! I can't wait to see her do more!! What a big milestone this is!!!! She is 9 months and 6 days today. Her doctor predicted she would be walking before her 9 month appt which is next week. I don't think she will exactly be strolling into the office in Nike's like she said she would, but I am sure before we know it she will be.

It's a Boy!

2010-07-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Jake and I found out last week that we have a sweet little boy on his way! (He has been so nice to me this whole pregnancy and was sleeping the entire sonogram which is a good sign!) We were a little shocked. We assumed girl, cause it was easy to wrap our heads around with having Zoey. We now will be shifting gears and getting ready for trucks and t-ball, and bugs!

Everyone has been calling him Logan (which was the name we picked if Zoey was a boy) so for now Logan it is! We know Zoey will just love him to death. I hope hope hope they will both love each other and learn and grow together as friends!

I found this picture...this is soo gonna be me next year! 13 1/2 months apart. Wow! What a crazy ride it's gonna be! Crazy and wonderful. Definitely a way to fill our lives with lots of memories!

The Frikkin Bow

2010-07-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

"i'm not a boy people!"

Melissa (my best friend) gives me such a hard time about Zoey always having a bow on. lol.

Well....in my defense....that little Zoey of ours must look pure boy without one because if she is out in public without that bow everyone stops us to say "oh your little boy is so cute" "how old is he?"

I am pretty sure that one time Zoey was wearing a blue bow and an old man commented on how cute our boy was! Seriously people! She was WEARING A BOW!!!!

Yes she has a blue car seat and yes it has a blue toy attached, and yes she has my terrible italian thick eye brows, but heaven sakes..........

I love Shopping! says Zoey

2010-07-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

Zoey was born to shop! She LOVES to stand in the back of the shopping cart and talk and smile at everyone that walks by! She attracts so much attention! One cashier at the grocery store the other day came running over to see her. She was in the middle of ringing someone up and I wasn't even on line to check out! Everyone stops and talks to her, and that is exactly what she wants.......all the attention!

Making Baby Food

2010-07-04T18:06:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give making baby food a try and was so happy with how easy it was and how nice it is to know exactly what Zoey is eating! Here is what I did...Step 1: I took organic frozen vegetables and steamed them...making sure not to over cook them so I wouldn't kill the nutrients.

Step 2: I put the carrots and the water I steamed the carrots with (any lost nutrients would have drained into the water) in the magic bullet.

Step 3: Puree with the magic bullet. Add more water if it is too thick.

Viola! I kept mine pretty thick and watered it down if needed at feeding.

Step 4: Put in these perfect size GLAD tubberwares. I put half in the freezer and half in the fridge to use right away.

I haven't done a ton....a few different veggies and I did peaches. I used canned peaches which came out very watery, even with no juice or water added. I will keep experimenting with it. Excited that is worked out so well!!

We Don't Approve of This...

2010-07-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

But...it was so funny we had to take a picture!

As We Go On, We Remember

2010-06-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

As a high school teacher, I have been able to watch the excitement build every June as seniors get ready to take their last steps out the doors of the high school and onto the beginning of the rest of their lives. I find mostly sheer happiness with the seniors at my school. They can't wait to be out and on their own, and often times they have already been "checked out" for several months prior. The final bell on their last day is pure relief to both them AND their teachers.

As a senior in 2002, I remember it all very differently. Pure joy wasn't the feeling of that last day. It felt more closely to pure dread. The final 30 min of school, somehow we all mangaged to get out of class, and a big group of us stood arm in arm in a big circle in the main office. We all were crying (girls and guys)....like really crying, remembering it all, sad to see it end, scared to part the walls that kept us together, unsure if we really wanted to leave our friends and start all over in an unknown college or university. We listened as our principal Mr.Brooks stood in front of us and gave an announcement over the loud speaker of his excitement and encouragement to us seniors. We knew he loved us. It was never student against principal with Mr.Brooks. As the bell rang, the hallway filled with more tear stained eyes. Everyone was crying, hugging, and hanging around. There was never truely a class like mine. I never felt hate for any other social group. Everyone really got along. The popular kids were a mixture of every part of high school.... the AP students, the athletes, the band members, chorus, school musical kids, student government. There were so many well rounded students in my class....it's inspiring to think back to how special it was to be a part of it. The Vitamin C graduation song was played over the loud speaker on that last day, which I just heard in the car. It's what sent me back and inspired this post. Here are some of the words...

"And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives

Where we're gonna be when we turn 25

I keep thinking times will never change

Keep on thinking things will always be the same...

As we go on, we remember

All the times we had together

And as our lives change, from whatever

We will still be, friends forever"

Well 25 has come and gone now, and that last day of school in 2002 is still very dear to my heart (and slightly comical on how dramatic we all were). My high school girlfriends are still my most cherished friends. They were all my bridesmaids. They all grew up into amazing women as I knew they would. I love that they are still a part of my life. I feel pretty darn lucky to have had such great memories in high school to where I didn't want them to end. I moved on to have great college memories, and great memories of meeting Jake and falling in love and now we are building wonderful memories of being a family (a growing family at that).

In 2 years it will be 10 years since I graduated high school. I am sure I will watch many seniors pass through my classroom, but I will always feel slightly bad for them, that they didn't get to be a senior at Arlington High School in 2002!

Linkin's Vet Appointment

2010-06-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

Linkin has been limping a bit in the past week. We didn't want it to get worse and we of course didn't want him in pain, so I went ahead and made an appointment for him at the Vet. Since I was working, it was Jake who would have to bring him in.

Now....what you have to know about Jake is...he really tries to get things right, but often, things don't go right for him. He always puts others before himself, and is pretty awesome all around

With that being said, I was crossing my fingers that everything would go well with the appointment, that Jake would go to the right vet, ask about the costs before paying some crazy amount of money, that a tree wouldn't fall on Jake's truck keeping him from getting there, that he wouldn't be robbed in the parking lot of the vet etc. Well, I have to say. I was impressed to hear that everything went smooth. They gave Linkin some medicane, and said they didn't think it was broken. YEAH!!!!

So...4 hours later. I am driving home from school, and I get a text message from Jake.

"It was the right foot right?"

OMGosh! lol. I was laughing so hard because...no, it wasn't the right foot.....it was the LEFT FOOT that Linkin hurt!!!

ahhhh. I love him. All of him. You would think the owner and the vet would have been able to figure it out, but nope. Nothing like going to the vet to get a perfectly good foot looked at!

:o)

Memorial Day 2010

2010-06-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

Our little Nelson clan headed up to NY for Memorial Day to spend time with family and a day at Whaley Lake (one of my favorite places in the whole wide world!) It was a great day with family, jetskiing, relaxing, watching Zoey enjoy the lake and of course the ambulance coming after an accident with one of jess' friends ripping apart their knee after going off the rope swing! It's always something when people are around us! lol. Joel is ok though and home recovering from knee surgery! linkin and jake after a ride on the jetski!

Zoey saying Hi to everyone!

Hanging out with Grandma!

Loving the FREEZING Cold Water!

Sporting her Red White and Blue for Memorial Day!

DC With Friends in March

2010-06-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

In march we had some visitors! Phil and Crystal came from boston. Devin came from Utah and Amanda came up from Virgina. They all wanted to see some sites and we were happy to tag along. Chatting at the museum. Where is Crystal though?

Devin and Amanda! Perfect for each other!!

Zoey so happy to be in DC! What a good looking hubby I have!

Some cuddle time in the heart of DC

I love my little family!

Zoey 7 1/2 months

2010-05-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

What a fun little girl we have! Zoey is all about exploring, discovering and being independent. She loves her mommy, daddy and Linkin, even though Linkin pretends to have a little temper tantrum every time she touches him (I see you wagging your tail Linkin!!)

Zoey now has 2 teeth! The first one was pretty rough coming in (at least for me and Jake!), but her little smile is so cute with those two little teeth poking out!

Zoey is standing all over the place. Not on her own yet. (I don't think she thinks she can, even though she totally can. lol) She has mastered crawling. When she crawls toward you laughing and smiling the whole way it is the best thing in the world!

When you sing to her, she thinks you are so silly! She kind of waves hi......really good at the waving, but I don't think she knows what she is doing it for, other than being totally fun!

She LOVES other babies! Good thing we have one on the way!!

She said dadada a few times, but no mamama yet. We are working on it! lol. She could talk for hours to herself while she plays. It's quite amusing.

Bath time is the best thing in the whole wide world for her! She literally plunges her face into the water from a sitting position. She just loves the water. Jake can dump a whole bucket of water on her head and it doesn't bother her in the slightest! She splashes around and just plays and plays. We can't wait to take her to the lake this weekend and see how she does. She hasn't tried cold water yet!

Jake and I were brainstorming the other night..."how can we keep her like this forever?!" Jake thought, 'Maybe we can freeze her?' She is just so fun right now. I can't imagine what the next few months will bring!

Jake dresses Zoey for church to match him! :o)

Playing

MY FAVORITE FACE

2010-05-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

This is the happiest little girl! It takes all my energy to not wake her up and see that little face every morning before I leave for work!! (Jake would kill me!) I love my Zoey! Don't you?

Love Our Pediatrican

2010-05-04T10:02:00.001-07:00

Ahhhh.... I love people who are good at what they do. Sometimes it seems like we live in a world of SO SO and it is so annoying. Well, I just love Zoey's pediatrican, Dr. Cohen! She is just a wonderful loving person. She makes a fuss over Zoey every time she sees her and always just lets me talk talk talk at her check ups. She always makes me feel like such a great mom. Whenever I have an issue, I just call up the office, tell the secretary, she gives her the message and Dr.Cohen calls right back to give me advice. Often she just calls in a perscription for me without me having to go all the way down there. I love it!
Today she even asked me how I was feeling. She remembered I was pregnant! She remembers everything. Asks me about how our traveling went or whatever we recently did.
If anyone is in need of a great pediatrician, I would gladly give you the number to her office!

Daddy daughter time

2010-04-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

After staying up late to do homework, as that is the only time I have to get any done, I fell asleep in bed only to soon be awakened by the little cry every parent wishes wouldn't come at 4:30 in the morning. So I went into Zoey's room, picked her up, sat in "the chair", gave her a bottle, and rocked her (us) to sleep. At 6:00 I woke up with her in my arms and looked down. Zoey was wide awake staring at me, as if waiting for me to wake up.

As hard as being a parent is, I wouldn't trade these such moments for the best night's sleep, ever. We love Zoey so much.

Some Big News!

2010-04-18T17:53:00.001-07:00

Apparently we didnt think our lives were busy enough (lie) and now baby number 2 is on the way!!!!

Are we a little nuts?.....yes! Are we still excited?...yes! Are we super nervous about having 2 little ones basically a year apart?......Double yes!! But this is obviously God's plan (because we would never come up with this ourselves) and we know that things in God's hands have a way of working out. :o)

Happy 6 Months Zoey!

2010-04-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

Zoey means LIFE...

....and wow....she sure is full of it! I hear legends of babies that sit in their mothers lap for longer than 1 minute, and babies that are just content to lie under a play gym and star at the objects above. Well, not my little ball of fire!

Zoey does not stop moving. She loves people. She gets bored of being home and is happy to go shopping, or see a new face. She smiles ALL THE TIME! She has been crawling for a week now and is already bored of it. She just wants to stand all the time, and tonight while I was holding her up, she tried walking from the coffee table to her jumper(I was holding her the whole time of course). She is starting to pull herself to standing from the sitting position. She feeds herself her bottle... takes it out, inspects it and puts it back in. (it's hilarious! In my mind she is thinking.... 'ok, two more ounces to go'!)

Today at the doctors she mentioned that Zoey was trying to a be a 9 month old! It's bad enough time is flying by. I don't want Zoey to grow up sooo fast! Next week she is going to ask me for a cell phone!!!! Do you think I could just swaddler her up for a few months and keep her from learning any new tricks? She is leaving her poor parents in the dust!! lol.

We just love our little Gooey! We just hope she goes easy on us!

What We Look Forward To After Every Nap!

2010-04-06T09:15:00.000-07:00

Oh How I Love Spring....

2010-04-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

...is what Linkin is saying in this picture!

Bring In Spring! Picnic

2010-03-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

Send me your email so I can invite you to our Bring In Spring! Picnic April 24th!

Dear Jovonna

2010-03-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Jovonna.

Its been some time now since Chad passed away. I think of you everyday, wondering if its easier to get out of bed, or easier to accept that he is gone. Is it? It is not easier for me to think of you without him because I know he really brought joy into your life.

When I found out I couldn't help but be a little mad at God. As a religious person who believes in heaven and life after death, it should have made more sense to me. I should have been comforted knowing that he suffered no longer and was in a beautiful place that we can't even comprehend. But....I felt no comfort. I felt like you were robbed of so many years of memories and it wasn't right. I cried a lot. I knew that Chad was in a good place, but I felt so helpless as a friend who could never really understand what you were going through.

I think that if I were going through this, I would hope that people would change their ways of thinking. I would hope that people who love each other would stop being quick to judge each other. I would hope they would say 'I love you' more often, share more embraces, forgive instantly and not let a single second of their lives go un-cherished. I would hope they would see how short life can be and that they would fill it to the brim with good things...things that count.

I will never understand why you had to go through this. I know each person is given trials to overcome. Yours is one of the hardest I have ever known. We go through life with a big check list, happily checking off our life accomplishments. Graduate college..check. Buy a house... check. Marry the man of your dreams...check. Get pregnant with your first baby....check. Lose your husband was never meant to be on that list and so you have to write it in under 'other' and it almost seems like you have to start all over with your list. It's just not fair.

So, I hope you let all those who love you pull you through this. Let all of us give you the strength you will need to borrow for however long you need it. Let God work miracles in your life through your family, friends and your baby girl. I know you will have many more joys to come even though right now it might seem really distant. And if you can't find anything to celebrate right now, just find happiness in knowing... you knew real love, and that is a true true blessing.

With all my love,

Stacey

What We Know About Zoey

2010-03-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about things about Zoey that I love the past few weeks and after reading Kathy's blog about cute little Gavin at age 1, I thought I better get it on the blog before she turns 1 and I don't remember what she was like at 5 months!

Zoey turns 5 months next week!! These are things I know and love about her!

~ She reaches for EVERYTHING! She just wants her on hands on it all!

~Her hair is growing, but sticks STRAIGHT UP...just like mine when I was her age

~We are now pretty sure she has hazel eyes, blonde hair and favors her left hand!

~ She has just discovered her feet and that they can touch her face!

~ She is so happy when she wakes up. You walk her in room in the morning and there she is, in her crib with her little head lifted and a big smile on her face...along with good sleep marks all over her face!

~ She can get up on her knees

~ Her rubber duckie at bath time makes her extremely happy

~She had her first rice cereal feeding last sun March 7th. She really liked it!

~ She can almost sit up on her own...but is usually too busy reaching for something to stay in one spot for too long

~ She loves being naked and getting her diaper changed

~She loves rolling to her tummy but gets stuck there.

~ She can stand holding on to something

~ She loves her reflection. It makes her flat out laugh out loud. I can't help but laugh too!

~ She is such a happy baby! There is not much she hates...thank goodness!

this is zoey's first feeding!! such a big girl!!

Zoey 4 months

2010-02-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

She is just discovering new things everyday. I love it.

Yeah for Zoey!!!

2010-02-18T07:36:00.000-08:00

Zoey slept the whole night last night. 9pm-8am! How awesome is that?!

16 and Pregnant

2010-02-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight I watched the MTV show "16 and Pregnant". I watched this very young 16 year old girl, young as in more worried about going out and partying than feeding her baby. I watched as this silly girl screamed at her mother (who was working 40 hour weeks, getting up with the baby, bringing the baby to and from day care and taking care of the baby in the evening) because her mother wanted her to stay in and help with the baby instead of going out to a party. This girl said she thought the baby would be fun one day when he started sleeping through the night and not needing so much attention. I was so angry with this girl for keeping this baby she was clearly not ready to raise. It makes me sad this baby will be raised as a second priority to a teenagers social agenda.

I am so thankful for my marriage, my education, my job, my religion, my family and my home that give me so much confidence bringing a baby into the world. I can't imagine giving Zoey anything less in her little life. While Jake and I weren't trying, becoming pregnant wasn't a tragedy. I didn't have to change my behaviors, or habits, or start getting my act together in order to offer my baby what she deserves. I feel very blessed to have what I do. I realize how lucky I am, but I know a lot of it has come from me working hard to have a life that I can be proud of.

I know that life is not easy, but I know Heavenly Father blesses me and loves me. I know he sent Zoey to me to bless my life and to put her in my care so I can teach her and raise her. I am even more thankful to know that families are forever and that there is life after death, and that whatever happens to me and my family in this life, that in heaven we will all be together again and forever. This brings me much comfort in a crazy and sometimes scary world.

I hope the best for that little baby with the 16 year old mother. I hope he grows up and decides that when he is ready to be a daddy himself will be when he can give his baby the world. I hope that 16 year old mother grows up fast and sees that a little life has been put in her care.

Now all I want to do is go and wake my baby up and give her a big kiss.

....but I won't cause I'm not crazy! :o)

February Flurry Fury

2010-02-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

Well Maryland is not having a typical mild winter. That is for sure! First there was the 1st blizzard in Dec, where we got about 20 inches or so. This week has almost doubled that amount. We got snowed in last Saturday, and then we had snow again last Tues, and then we had a MONSTER storm last Fri-Sat where we got about 28 inches. Now its Wed and we are stuck inside again with a blizzard outside and are supposed to get 10-20 inches. This is historic snow for Maryland and Marlyand does not know how to handle it. Trash collection in the city is on hold. We haven't had our mail all week. School have been closed since Friday. Grocery stores were jam packed yesterday and milk and basic food necessities were no where to be found. The state has run out of money for snow clean up. It is just nuts.

I feel really lucky to have a home that is safe and warm and to have food storage so that we will be ok for a few days without having to get to the grocery store. (There was no way I waiting in line for an hour for milk!!)

Pretty Baby

2010-02-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

With all the snow.... I had time to dress Zoey up in this precious dress on loan from my mom's dear friend Karen. Karen wore it as a baby and wanted to pass it on to Zoey while she could fit in it. It is a gorgeous delicate little dress.

More Cupcakes

2010-02-08T06:42:00.000-08:00

These are some more cupcakes I have been working on....

Banana Split

hostess

red velvet with cream cheese frosting

Chocolate chip

Chocolate Peanut Butter & Triple Chocolate

A Day Of Pizza!

2010-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

To start out my advanced class for the semester, I always challenge them with a CREATIVE PIZZA LAB. They have to think of a pizza that is figuratively "out of the box". No pepperoni, no ham and pineapple! It has to be different!

I am always impressed with the final products! Today I got to try Ultimate Kids Pizza (mac and cheese and chicken nuggets), philly cheese steak, banana split (crust with cream cheese marshmallow sauce then covered with all the typical banana split toppings), fajita pizza, hamburger pizza. It was a really good day for pizza!

My Little Ones Are Growing Up

2010-01-29T06:46:00.000-08:00

This is my 3rd year teaching and this week has been the start of a new semester. I get all new classes and new students (which I hate starting all over again) but this semester I have been so surprised at the students that have been walking through my door. Some I haven't seen since they were freshman 2 years ago and OH MY GOSH, they are all grown up! I feel bad when I embarrass them by saying "Look how grown up you are!!". They must want to kill me!

Also.... I have this advisory class. It's a class that you have 1 time a week to help them work on high school portfolios that every student need to graduate (dumb). The kids don't get graded, and its really a nonsense waste of time. Anyway. You have the same kids from 9th grade to when they graduate in 12th. So when I started, I got THE MOST OBNOXIOUS 9th graders ever! I spent most of the time sending them to the office and babysitting them so they wouldn't destroy something in my classroom! I could not stand Wednesdays when I would have to see them! I would tell them that maybe I would like them by the time they were seniors...and you know what??? They are growing on me! I actually enjoy them now. They are juniors and they are witte and funny and still often annoying, but they are no longer animals running wild in my room! The don't look to destruct things and run loose in the hallways. They are happy just chatting and doing homework. They even complete the work I give them to do on their portfolios.

I might even go as far as saying I will miss them once they graduate! Maybe. :)