Fathers' Day

I forgot to take a single picture on fathers' day as we were blown away by some news we received that morning. We discovered early that morning that we might be having a baby this February. We were (and still are) in such a shock. My doctor called me back and told me to start taking the baby aspirin again (which we ideally would have started prior to planned conception) and my blood test yesterday put me at somewhere between 4-5 weeks. We have our first real appointment and ultrasound on July 8th. Hopefully it will be an uneventful pregnancy and I won't have anything to report anytime soon. My doctor seems to think as early as we found out the baby aspirin will still be effective. I am posting about the pregnancy here because I am excited and want to share it with those of you who look at this blog, however I would appreciate it no one makes any obvious mentions of it on Facebook as we are still trying to sort out some things (like school/work) and it is too early to make any real announcements yet (especially with our history). I am just trying to take it one day at a time at the moment. I am trying to finish my coursework for my summer school class which will be over by 5 p.m. Saturday. It is harder than I thought it was going to be seeing as I am exhausted and can't drink coffee to help me through it. Only other symptoms I am having are lightheadedness, extreme hunger, exhaustion, bladder pressure (which will go away for me in a few weeks, I know from past experience that it is from the unusual position of my uterus), my hair is falling out, my finger nails are brittle, my brain is fuzzy, I am highly emotional and my skin is breaking out. No morning sickness yet, so I am kind of nervous about that. However I had extreme morning sickness with my last miscarriage and almost none with Jake until I was about 8 weeks along. So who knows. Prayers are much appreciated. James is excited (in case you are wondering) and I go back and forth between denial, excitement and worry.

Fun at the Coffee House!

Saturday we went to the Coffee House to take Papoo his fathers day/grandfathers day cards and to see Nana as well! As you can see much fun was had!

Jake before his haircut.

I took this on our way home from his allergy test appointment (he came out just fine so no idea what the rash is about, but he still gets it from time to time. DR said it could be a mild food allergy). I had promised him a chocolate chip cookie if he could be good for the whole trip and after they stuck him (skin test) he asked if he could have two cookies. We stopped at Kroger and bought cookies (and ran into Christie and Elana). I gave him the cookies when we got to the car and then we went to get gas for the car. By time I had finished pumping gas he had eaten both cookies and fallen asleep. I couldn't resist taking a picture!

Mari! Mari! Mari!

I should have know something was up when she waltzed past me in Jakes wellies! I was just so glad to get to unload the dishwasher without 'help'. She pulled Jakes milk off the table and did a little dance in it (wearing his frog wellies). She was so proud of herself. She had been asking me to go outside, but it had been raining. Oh well. When I got on to her she ran and got a dishtowel and helped me clean it up. Such a sweetie!

IAHS Class of 1999 Ten Year Reunion

Above, Carrie Cromeans Koon and I pose for a shot and below I took a picture of James and Catherine Dement Honan's husband Shane.
Here are some of the group shots. There were a lot of people not there. Hopefully the next one (15 year) will be better attended.

Another group shot. We took a lot of them trying to get everyone to pay attention at the same time.

Catherine Dement Honan and I. Turns out we were both pregnant I just didn't know I was at the time.

Shane, Catherine and I. It was really nice to see them. They have been stationed in Kansas but they are currenlty moving to Virginia.

Alix (our sitter) took this picture of us before we left.

All by herself!

While I was updating my blog, Mari came up to me and asked me to put on her shoes. I told her not right now as we are not going outside at the moment (I don't like wearing shoes in the house). She went over in the corner and put it on all by herself. Granted it is velcro and it is on the wrong foot, but I still can't get Jake to do that! Just another example of how their different personalities affect their actions. She is so independent and driven and he so laid back that he often doesn't understand why I would want/expect him to do something that I could do for him--he seems to think if I do something for him it is a sign that I love him (this he gets from his Daddy).

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I took this picture of them playing together at church. Below is my large cup of strong brewed coffee with milk in it to help keep me awake as Mari did not sleep much (and when she did it was fitful and in the bed with James and I) so James and I were very tired all day.
Below, you can see Mari made up for her lack of nocturnal rest by falling asleep everytime we put her in the car.

While we were waiting on James to change clothes Jake took the opportunity to read some of my books that I had lying around the car. In the second picture he is actually making up words and pointing at the the real words to show me how well he can 'read'. I was explaining to James how good that is for his age from a familiarity with literacy standpoint and James died out laughing and said well of course he is advanced to be reading books like Animal Liberation and Rivals for Power at his age (the books he was 'reading' were both required reading this past semester in my doctoral seminars). I know James was just teasing me, because I take their education so seriously. However, one of the reasons I do not regret having small children while completeing my education is that I feel it is important for them to see how important education is to me and have realistic ideas about how to go about it. Hopefully by exposing them to these things through me it will help them when they set out on their own academic paths.

Jake's first movie going experience!

Jake went to see his first movie in the theater--Disney/Pixar's UP. He was accompanied by me (Isla), James and my Dad. My mum and Mari played at the mall (where they ran into Mea and Elizabeth from church). It was my first 3D movie experience as well! The movie was great for all ages. Maybe we can take Mari for her first movie later this year as I did see some younger children in their and I think she would be amazed enough by the experience to behave.
Jake wasn't too excited about going to see a movie (no previous frame of reference as now he has already asked me if we can go see another movie. He told me he wants Nana and Mari to come next time too.) So we told him he could eat popcorn and some candy while watching the movie and he seemed really excited about that!

Here he is during the movie. He sat on my dad's lap the whole time mesmorized! He did not touch his sprite or popcorn, he was too busy watching the movie!

Telling Nana about the movie afterwards. The dog (Doug) is from the movie.

the Paddling Pool

Jake and Mari being sweet!
Jake tries to catch a 'daddy fish'.

You can see Mari doing her big-cheesy-smile for the camera face quite a few times in this post.

We have had this same pool for three years now (we keep it clean and store it in the attic in the winter) and it was money well spent.

Trip to the grocery store

Jake and Mari enjoy both driving the car that is attached to the grocery carts at Kroger. I couldn't resist taking a few pics of the fun they were having. As for who is the better driver--lets just say that Jake is Mr. Safety first and Mari is Miss. Afraid of Nothing. When we put them in the buggy, Jake started crying and saying that "Daddy doesn't love me". It turns out James had buckled Mari in but not Jake and Jake thought that meant James did not love him (I guess because he assumed it meant James didn't care if he got hurt, when in fact it was because James felt Jake was old enough to get in and out of the car, which is at ground level, without getting hurt). If you look in the picture below you can see why it is necessary to strap in Mari as she has her foot hanging out the side and attempted to get out several times while we were in motion.

Miss Mari grows up:(

Mari is now 18 months old. I don't know what happened. I brought her home from the hospital only yesterday. She is so independent and smart. She likes to try and put her own shoes on (she sometimes attempts to put Jakes on his feet for him as well), she likes potty training, prefers to "read" books all by herself, want so brush her own hair and her own teeth and she can communicate very well for her age. She says all sorts of things. She actually speaks in sentences already part of the time, but it is mostly things she has mimicked from Jake--such as "I did it!" "I love Mama", "I love Daddy", "I want more", etc. After our trip to the zoo on Memorial Day we went to James' sister's house in Southaven (15 minutes from the zoo) and played in her pool (no pictures as pools, kids and camaras don't mix to well). After this Jake went home with James' parents for a few days so that James and I could spend time with just Mari (as apart from hospital stays she never had the luxury of being alone with us). Although I missed Jake, it was nice and I got to know Mari in a different sense than before. On one of the days, Mari and I had to go to the doctor as her ear was acting up again (turned out to be lymph node that was infected behind her ear and not the mastoid or ear itself--whew!). The picture above and the one directly below was taken at the doctor's office waiting room. Mari wanted to sit in her own chair at the Ear Nose and Throat appointment. The picture below is of the cheesy smile she gives when someone tries to take her picture. She seems to understand almost everything I tell her, and for the most part I understand her. We have wonderful conversations and she is an amazingly smart little girl. I am so fortunate to have two such healthy, smart and beautiful children!

"I'm the baby" In this picture Mari was attempting to sit in her doll stroller (in the spot the doll sits in). She likes to remind James and I that she is our baby and when she gets in trouble (most often for attacking her brother) she proclaims loudly that she is the baby--"I'm the baby"--as if that should give her the right to do whatever she wants without consequence. Most of the time when she says it, she just wants cuddles which is fine by me. Everyone tells you what a transition it is to become a parent of a baby, but no one warns you what a transistion it is to wake up one day without a baby anymore. It is strange because for the past four years I have been either expecting a baby or taking care of one and now I have these two little people who can talk and walk and eat real people food. It is strange. I am not sure how I feel about it. I guess bittersweet is the best word I can find to attempt to describe it.

Memorial Day trip to the Memphis Zoo

These first pictures turned out dark because we were inside the aquarium and I was using my phone to take pictures as it was raining when we arrived (didn't want to risk damaging my camara).

I love these pictures of James, Jake and Mari walking at the zoo. I realize that the first picture is from behind, but they just look so happy all holding hands and walking around together. It is so amazing the difference a year makes when your family is this young. Last year it was a lot harder to take them anywhere!

Jake and I briefly debated whether these were monkeys or gorillas and Mari promptly informed us they were doggies. Jake then asked what monkeys eat (at which point Mari screamed doggie--perhaps annoyed that Jake did not take her seriously). It is so funny watching their little minds in motion:)

With Mari everything is either a fish or a doggie. She is very sure of this fact and will not be convinced otherwise. Jake is interested in learning their different names, but is more interested in what they all eat. His "signature question" is what does (insert noun) eat? I can't complain because when I was little I asked "Where its Mama" about even inanimate objects (according to my parents as I obviously don't remember).

Since I was using my phone to take the pictures, I managed to get some of me and the kids.

These were taken at the birds and bees exhibit at the zoo. Unfortunately after Jake lured birds to one stick he attacked them with another so we left before any birds were seriously injured.