Family Pictures

With Christmas only 12 days away, I figured we had better get our family Christmas card picture taken so we can get cards made. So we hurried really fast this morning before church to get all of us ready and in good moods. It almost worked. I had to bribe Thomas with a piece of candy, but he was pretty good. I dread the day when candy no longer has the desired effect and we have to move on to something bigger.

So here are our family pictures.

Brady is Here

Brady James is here! He was born December 10, 2008 (12-10-08, isn't that fun!) at 10:53 am. He weighed in at 10 lbs even and is 22 lbs long. Jodi is doing well and is feeling great. Her back is a bit sore at the epidural site. We are all glad to be back at home as a family.

No Baby Yet. . .

So still no baby. Some contractions have come, but the don't come often or regularly. I have changed my dr appointment from wednesday to tomorrow. I will be hopefully scheduling a day to be induced if I am not in L&D by then. I'll try to keep this site updated.

A plethora of pictures

I have been hounded by family for pictures, so here are some of the pictures from the last couple of weeks.

This is a picture of Thomas seeing Santa in Springdale, AR. He wanted as far away as possible. I couldn't even bribe him with the reward of a candy cane

This is a picture of me taken 11-30-08, so I was a couple days shy of 39 weeks.



This is a picture of Thomas at the Hobby Train Display the Night of Nathanial's 5K. He loved the trains. It was so fun for him to just stand there and watch. We are definitely going to have to go back another time.


And this last picture is Nathanial, Thomas and Santa Clause after Nathanial had finished the 5k. Thomas still won't get near the Jolly Old Elf. Nathanial took 10th overall in the race and 1st in his age group.

Hope that will satisfy everyone for a few more days!

Oh the things a 2 year old can come up with

So Thomas is getting an imagination. He is learning all about is world and how things interact with in it. He is really doing well with his vocab and the sentences he creates are rather funny. But today he really hit the roof.

Just to warn you, I don't know where he comes up with his crazy ideas, it is definitely not from me or his dad. But the last few days he has had gas. We are trying to teach him to say "excuse me" and be polite. So Nathanial is in working on the computer when I hear him come running into the kitchen laughing his head off. Apparently Thomas had passed a little gas and Nathanial asked him what he did. Thomas kept playing with his cars and in his manner-of-fact voice "I sneezed with my Bum." Ok. Poor child. What craziness is in his future!

He finished!

Today was the long awaited Half Marathon. Nathanial got up bright and early (thanks to Thomas) and was ready to go. The race started at 8:00 this morning. Thomas and I went and did our weekly grocery shopping during the race. We actually got to see Nathanial running around the 4.5 mile marker. We were stuck at an intersection for 10 minutes while waiting for a break in the runners.

Nathanial finished strong. I was really lucky to even be able to see him finish. I was expecting a 2:30 finish with everything else that has gone on this week. His unofficial official time was 1:52:13. That is about a 8.5 minute mile. Which was great. His goal was to stick with the 2:00:00 pacer the whole way, but that was just a bit too slow for him.

I am proud of him and his hardwork to reach this point and am even more glad that it is over. Now on to bigger and more important things...

Oh what a day!!

Tuesday was quite the day. One I can truly say I NEVER want to ever repeat again in a million lifetimes.

Nathanial had the day off, due to having a scheduled colonoscopy at noon. So not fun for him. Around 10:00 we left, dropping Thomas off at the Charleton's to play with his friends while we were gone. We got to the parking lot and I thought to myself, I should've gotten something to eat before we got here. But, alas, it was to late to go and get anything.

We then go back and Nathanial does the regular pre-op, only it isn't the normal pre-op. As they inserted the IV, he fainted (which we were expecting, the nurses weren't though). The nurses were a bit frantic trying to figure out what needed to be done. I was perfectly calm (on the inside, I was freaking out. I had never seen him faint before). Finally they decided to take him back to the procedure room and monitor him there until the doctor was ready.

They took him back and hooked him up. The heart monitor kept going off so they kept readjusting the leads. After about 6 tries, they decided that it wasn't the leads that were the problem, but his actual heart. So they called in the doctor, who takes one look at the heart rate and says "Hate to tell you this, but we aren't doing the procedure today." They sent in a tech to do an EKG and they found his heart was in Atrial Fibrulation, which in english means that his heart isn't working right. This sends both Nathanial and I into kind of a panic. Especially when they told us they wanted to admit him to the hosptial.

After about an hour, they finally got a hold of his cardiologist who sent him home with an appointment to come back the next day. We drove over to Nathanial's work to request the time off for the next day, and then were going to go to lunch. We were both starving!!! As we went to leave the office, the car decided not to start. After many attemps, we called a tow truck and sat to wait. Longing for food, we sat, and sat. The wrecker was on its way, but got called out to an emergency. We sat for 2 hours waiting. Finally he showed up to take the car. Just as our ride arrived to bring us safely back home.

So we drove home with no problems, other than a bit of traffic, only to come to realize that we had no keys to the house and the garage door opener was still in the car. We were locked out. Luckily, one of the windows was unlocked and we were able to break in. We made it home at 6:00.

So our day ended, and we finally got to eat. What a blessing leftovers are. Now, don't fret too much. Nathanial's heart is fine (as far as the doctor can tell) and he has been cleared to run the Half-Marathon on Saturday (though I don't know why he would want too). And after replacing the fuel pump, the car is home now, and runs pretty nicely.

During the heat of it all, I have to admit I was overwhelmed. But looking back, it is easy to see the Angel's here on earth that help us when we struggle, as well as the blessings of the Lord that seem to always be there, just hidden a little below the surface of our trials.

I hope you all have had a better week than we have, and that you can take a minute to recognize the Lord's hand in your blessings. Sometimes we get too busy and it takes a bit of stress to really evaluate your life and remember what is important.

A Trip to the Pumkin Patch

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch. We were a bit bummed that we weren't actually able to go out to the patch to pick pumpkins. With all of the rain, it was just too muddy. We ended up getting several pumpkins and getting them ready for Halloween today. Enjoy the Pictures!!

Did you know that pumpkins like cheerios?

This morning I got up, got Thomas his cereal a hopped in the shower. When I came out of my room, I see him sitting in the big office chair over by our counter. On the counter was an overflowing bowl of cheerios.

He looked up at me and said "Mommy, the pumpkin eats cereal too."

Thomas had poured his new jack-o-lantern a bowl of cereal and was feeding him one cheerio at a time. His jack-o-lantern has a nice sound when shaken now. It was so cute. I'll try to post pictures later, But you all know I am terrible at that, so we will see.

Fair Days and Birthdays

Last week was our County Fair. On Tuesday we went to the Parade. Thomas watched all of the "Siren" trucks and cars go by. He though that was pretty cool. Then came Vilonia High School marching band. He sat listening in his stroller until they finished playing the song. Then the drumline started. He got this scared look on his face, jumped out of the stroller and came running into my lap. He sat there the rest of the parade. Any time a car came by playing music or a band marched past us he grabbed my hand and covered his ears.

On Wednesday, Nathanial had the day off so we went to look at the animals at the fair. Thomas enjoyed looking at them all and was a bit disappointed that we couldn't see the pigs. They were getting ready for judging and the barn was closed. But not to worry, he went back to the fair 3 more times to see the animals. What fun. I am so glad Nathanial took him 2 of those 3 times, I don't think I could have handled the excitement of seeing the chickens, rabbits, pigs, cows and goats 4 times in 4 days.

I had my birthday last Sunday, and Nathanial's Birthday is coming up on Monday. We usually celebrate together on the weekend in between our birthdays, but we may not be able to this year. Nathanial is signed up to go down to a town in Lousiana about 30 miles west of New Orleans to help with hurricane Gustav cleanup. He has signed up probably 4 times now, and still hasn't made it down there. Hopefully this weekend will workout. If not, he will be plenty busy helping a family move in to the ward, his horses and watching Thomas during the Relief Society Broadcast.

Another week come and gone. . .

So another week has come and gone. Not much exciting has happened here. Thomas has been potty training for a few weeks now, and is doing really well at not having any accidents. The poor guy just can't figure out how to get his pants down on his own.

He has been going through a really weird and annoying phase this last week where he won't go to sleep for his nap until 2:00, and then will not wake up until after 5:00. This has really messed with bedtime. Hopefully his short nap at church today will bump him back on schedule.

Nathanial is currently looking for a running partner, as he wants to run the 5k on labor day. We are getting ready to celebrate our 4th anniversary this week. It is odd thinking that it has already been only 4 years (so much has happened, but it seems like forever).

The Big U/S *Update with ultrasound picture*

Yesterday was the big day. We went in to get the big ultrasound done. This little baby wasn't shy at all. The first thing the ultrasound tech said was "It's a Boy." We are excited for Thomas to have a little brother, and he is slowly getting used to the idea. He kept telling me he was going to have a sister. Everything else looked good as well. We are still due early to mid December, which means I will not be at church during the Christmas season, yet again.

Happy Father's Day

This past week has been great, a bit too hot, but pretty good. We harvested the first 3 tomatoes out of our garden. They were delicious. I am hoping to get a lot more so I can have lots of BLTs and homemade salsa. Our Garden is growing well. The corn is as tall as Thomas and the squash and zuchinni plants are trying to over run the rest of the plants.

This upcoming week we are traveling back in time. Our car is going to go in for cosmetic surgery to repair the damage it received in the Deer incident. We will be without our car for 3 days. A friend has offered to let us borrow their bumper-less intrepid if we want it. We just need to arrange to pick it up.

I think Nathanial had a good Father's Day. Thomas (with my help) gave him a weed-eater so he can have more to do out in the yard. I am not much of a yardwork person, so Nathanial gets to do it all. Nathanial also got to eat a breakfast casserole (YUCK!) that I made for him as well as chicken cordon bleu casserole for dinner. He enjoyed getting relax and play with Thomas.

I hope we all take a little time out of our busy day to day life to thank those who are important to us. We never know when a kind word or thoughtful note can make the day of someone we care about. Hope you had a Happy Father's Day

Back in Arkansas Again

After our nice trip to Utah in May, we are getting back into the groove of normal life. We have been working really hard on getting the yard ready for summer. Nathanial has put up a new gate and cut down all of the ugly trees and the nuisance trees too.

Thomas is having tons of fun with summer. The family next door has a 4 year old girl who loves to play with Thomas. She is home for the summer since mom is a teacher. I look forward to lots of fun days for those too.

Next week, we will be taking our car into the shop to get it fixed after hitting the deer in Nebraska. Hopefully it will be as good as new when they are finished with it.

How great the Sun feels

So here in Arkansas, the winter is finally over. February and March were very busy months weather wise. We have had tons of rain. April began with Tornado sirens blaring late one night. Nathanial was in Kansas City, MO for business. That was the first time since we moved here that they have gone off. Spring is here in Arkansas right now. We have our lovely small garden plot planted and can't wait for the vegetables to start growing.

I can't believe April is almost over. May is starting in just a few short days and with that the summer will begin. Shucks. I hate that summer heat.

Hello,

This is Nathanial this time. Thomas is a lot of fun for those of you who don't know that. Why I am doing this? Well, because Jodi is at choir practice and Thomas is in bed. That means I have nothing better to do. Things are going great. I am busy with work and Jodi is busy with Thomas and Thomas is busy sleeping, eating, drinking, playing, and occasionally being grouchy.

Christmas was fun. We got lots of presents, lots sweet stuff, and lots of love. Thomas loved the snow. Unfortunately, it is just cold here, like the rest of the country , but without the snow.

I better not write too much. I might reveal my deep dark secret or worse yet, Jodi's. Or even worse Thomas' deep dark secret.