tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47517654440573654402024-02-02T10:16:03.182-08:00Marty and JennyMarty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-6722582550601558192010-12-16T09:28:00.000-08:002010-12-16T09:49:10.090-08:00Merry Christmas!<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9bEf60LyoQ3RhtzwJT4TN1ue6_dkkGhPLMtMTVwe4JVrZ4D2i1VV7_APgz6bhcNMgHcupvxlPUT75K6IdE_SLSwmaXnwX7EJzemJB8eveqJrNg1tZJCKcOt3REUd4VCyryzhwHmOcxZf/s1600/IMG_8872.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 214px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551337599099977362" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9bEf60LyoQ3RhtzwJT4TN1ue6_dkkGhPLMtMTVwe4JVrZ4D2i1VV7_APgz6bhcNMgHcupvxlPUT75K6IdE_SLSwmaXnwX7EJzemJB8eveqJrNg1tZJCKcOt3REUd4VCyryzhwHmOcxZf/s320/IMG_8872.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><div>I last posted when I was 13 weeks pregnant, now here I am almost 36 weeks pregnant, wow how time flies! I can't believe in just about a month we'll be meeting Cameron's little brother Tyler. What a beautiful time of the year to be pregnant. How I've enjoyed this pregnancy, feeling little Tyler kick and move around, listening to his heart beat, and knowing that we've been blessed with a miracle. How wonderful it's been, not to worry about how many calories I'm eating, I know I shouldv'e probably eaten less, but how I've enjoyed indulging my donut cravings! This is also the time of year where you just feel like being home, all cozied up on the couch and since I don't have any energy to anything else, it's perfect! I'm sure little Tyler is providing an extra layer of warmth, which is nice too, cause I'm always cold. Lastly this is a time of year when our family reflects on the miraculous birth of babe born in Bethlemen. Little baby Jesus. I think about the joy and awe that Mary felt being chosen as the mother of the Son of God, and the promises fullfilled in her son's birth. It brings to mind a hymn our children sing at church (Mary's Lullaby):<br /><br />Lullaby, lullaby, my little one.<br />Lullaby, my child so dear.<br />Thy precious life has just begun;<br />Thy mother holds thee near.<br />While Joseph watches through the night,<br />A star reflects thy radiant light.<br /><br />Thy gentle head shall wear a crown,<br />For thy Father is the King.<br />Thy tender hands, so tiny now,<br />Have blessings great to bring.<br />Let all creation join my song,<br />For peace and love this night are born.<br />Lullaby, lullaby, my little one.<br />Lullaby, my child so dear.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rmh0SGHJp0jrRDbg5YC94fSkAK-YscOxxuvJGPu5dR9CEU29M9U0KqPCGktflIn0VRrJOA5wn3aqnPI7AkS6XdrVE75OVLg7Jv9Nm0pINwVZC-tVPaaAa6BkImU3It-qHHTgw_pZLEBz/s1600/IMG_0384.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551338063707066834" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0rmh0SGHJp0jrRDbg5YC94fSkAK-YscOxxuvJGPu5dR9CEU29M9U0KqPCGktflIn0VRrJOA5wn3aqnPI7AkS6XdrVE75OVLg7Jv9Nm0pINwVZC-tVPaaAa6BkImU3It-qHHTgw_pZLEBz/s320/IMG_0384.JPG" /></a><br />I can't wait to hold my little one in my arms. I've been reading how this image and reminder during labor can make labor go more smoothly, with less pain :o) I can't wait to hold his tiny hands in mine, to feel his soft skin on my chest, and to look into his beautiful eyes. I know that just as Cameron has been the greatest blessing of our entire lives, little Tyler will share that space in our hearts and together they will be a great blessing to us.</div><div> </div><div>Last night when Cameron woke up at 9:30 pm, just a couple hours after falling asleep, I decided to bring him out in the living room with us (where we were watching the Sing Off-since Cameron loves music so much). The only light came from the Christmas lights, and Cameron looked so sweet in his baby blue pajamas. Marty and I just stared at him, his cute little face, and big bright blue eyes watching the musicians perform on the television. He walked excitedly between the two of us, smiling all the way. I don't know if Marty was just tired, but it looked like his eyes might have been "moist." We were experiencing pure joy watching our son. Our hearts were full. Our cup runneth over. Very soon our joy will be doubled. We are already accustomed to sleepless nights, changing poopy diapers, picking up endless messes, and doing countless loads of laundry. But at the end of the day, it's all worth it. When your little one stares up at you with that innocent look on their face, lays their head on your shoulder, or smiles, the joy you feel is indescribable. It is worth every sacrafice. We know having two little boys will be quite the change, but it's a change we are anxiously anticipating. </div><div> </div><div>This year we have been blessed indeed. How grateful we are for eachother, our children, our home, family, and friends. May you all see and feel the blessings in your lives is our prayer this holiday season. If you are lacking, may you be filled, if you are feeling down, may you be lifted. We love you! </div><div>Love,</div><div>The Mickelson's<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Q2hpSEcyl0OA5y6NkMF_HDObsbBW_5rAAeZ5u0fZoxVHaNhyphenhyphenCC3dkdsZ19dQYsXqXS10R949U4TMuCv8cZdxqChpYjaUPTz2mkQX8Q8SLNPTP6US8KhOVvrhCp5NZmrSKjoLme2Ip5wG/s1600/IMG_9427.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Q2hpSEcyl0OA5y6NkMF_HDObsbBW_5rAAeZ5u0fZoxVHaNhyphenhyphenCC3dkdsZ19dQYsXqXS10R949U4TMuCv8cZdxqChpYjaUPTz2mkQX8Q8SLNPTP6US8KhOVvrhCp5NZmrSKjoLme2Ip5wG/s320/IMG_9427.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhyphenhyphenK8E3yQ7RWQZbAc49Ut70AtTH_rwLC5-m2CG8xEuIiaWJYH85vN8U_ktDm5u9sXfe5Iz7_QcSe18Jo0Bp6S-o8QivwCy3eYy5TG8IPOlta4sIlHjC0nQPYqwArIoJBNKZero1_ybr-e/s1600/IMG_9402.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhyphenhyphenK8E3yQ7RWQZbAc49Ut70AtTH_rwLC5-m2CG8xEuIiaWJYH85vN8U_ktDm5u9sXfe5Iz7_QcSe18Jo0Bp6S-o8QivwCy3eYy5TG8IPOlta4sIlHjC0nQPYqwArIoJBNKZero1_ybr-e/s320/IMG_9402.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj427xE7YOLHq2aYzBPTBNI8gd3MFE8FMQirC55wATEGsnlh6bI2lkV0c6QCD0ecWUFvOd4m7i2aivNAaB1czu3Rz6qOZDHQRA1EU10A-Mm3lpj64tkdr4iN5erlvo2CF6G4t8o3XHSI4Mp/s1600/IMG_9452.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj427xE7YOLHq2aYzBPTBNI8gd3MFE8FMQirC55wATEGsnlh6bI2lkV0c6QCD0ecWUFvOd4m7i2aivNAaB1czu3Rz6qOZDHQRA1EU10A-Mm3lpj64tkdr4iN5erlvo2CF6G4t8o3XHSI4Mp/s320/IMG_9452.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><div></div><div style="CLEAR: both"> </div></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-11700567618555705982010-07-13T14:40:00.000-07:002010-07-13T14:58:39.717-07:0013 weeks on July 13th!I've been waiting for this day for a while now, well years really, but when I realized I´d be 13 weeks pregnant on the 13th of July I was pretty excited. I'm really into the 2nd trimester now, and still pregnant! Whenever I'm tired, suffering from sore breasts, food aversions, feeling faint, dizzy, or dying from the heat, I get excited because it means by little sweet pea is still growing inside me. It's hard to believe that she's now 3 inches long. Today I had Marty take pictures of me and my new protruding belly at the beach in Altea, Spain. We rented chairs and umbrellas and relaxed by the sea for a few hours, it was heavenly! <br /> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA94cD-epBjQgPSKjjzjuIqTJmBtZJGNP92o_NSmJG3awHLqyw1ALHyBZ2JalykX3h7fwFbpEZu48OfTNB7aG0tpn1_yLH4Snq8kIaNmESBbEfZutIaNsvcMy8VqKvho_d7xmQ6ShGl8RE/s1600/IMG_3918.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 214px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA94cD-epBjQgPSKjjzjuIqTJmBtZJGNP92o_NSmJG3awHLqyw1ALHyBZ2JalykX3h7fwFbpEZu48OfTNB7aG0tpn1_yLH4Snq8kIaNmESBbEfZutIaNsvcMy8VqKvho_d7xmQ6ShGl8RE/s320/IMG_3918.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493511107229364994" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQmoI6RiXnjf4h3cn_MpxCs_BqI0O18zPWAXtdLYnK_d9Mq6bBvpmK6NRR5N6p-HC0Z1tjWFm7bxFK-Rz-sWYWIAZ4XVMnJnMdjwKHngtG8T-E9EE2jsL7kz-eyIEWWOIkyup1aaRzFmC/s1600/IMG_3926.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQmoI6RiXnjf4h3cn_MpxCs_BqI0O18zPWAXtdLYnK_d9Mq6bBvpmK6NRR5N6p-HC0Z1tjWFm7bxFK-Rz-sWYWIAZ4XVMnJnMdjwKHngtG8T-E9EE2jsL7kz-eyIEWWOIkyup1aaRzFmC/s320/IMG_3926.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493511804945757794" border="0" /></a>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-29792139791581918132010-06-19T11:27:00.000-07:002010-06-19T11:33:09.139-07:00Ladder ball laughs<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Ok, I know 2 posts in 1 day, a little much, but I had to post about our exciting news and this video was just too cute, NOT to share!</p><p>We took this little clip yesterday, Cameron was watching Marty and his mom play ladder ball (Ashlea, my assistant is holding him), and he was just cracking up. He laughed just as hard when we were playing the game at Ashlea's house a couple weeks ago, so we thought we better get a set of our own :o) He loves when the balls get wrapped around the bars. It's hilarious! He also laughs like this when watching basketball. Not with softball though. I think we may have a ball player on our hands!</p><p><object style="BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/udf6g2ZQVyo/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/udf6g2ZQVyo&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/udf6g2ZQVyo&hl=en_US&fs=1" width="425" height="344" allowscriptaccess="never" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></p><p></p>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-38217892604168718252010-06-12T18:45:00.000-07:002010-06-19T11:38:00.351-07:00I believe in miracles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbo5joLT27Cxe0yIN8V6YC9arv424drWiK80ExMEfDGD2OLy-aG3FguIDtziuUphuPSYPqkMDD9_nv8p-9kJIAvSkNYIY9TSzx_sa6pRFKket5CCrLSLqIQXKLtPouY2sAYAd-KOlHkVYi/s1600/IMG_3559.JPG"></a> <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4HKHFvkf5NRYFKoagZyz-VmGxXdj01irqz3qqv_roCUKOcStphdjqChaGB136Z6fJ-toO1l6OAB1Pzjnl4UCR6GAdGImXr1GVIZm9iCQd2P_JSHSQzWUlim5ukq1yeZmJKCP07m3mcbo/s1600/IMG_2327.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 214px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484537585633443266" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig4HKHFvkf5NRYFKoagZyz-VmGxXdj01irqz3qqv_roCUKOcStphdjqChaGB136Z6fJ-toO1l6OAB1Pzjnl4UCR6GAdGImXr1GVIZm9iCQd2P_JSHSQzWUlim5ukq1yeZmJKCP07m3mcbo/s320/IMG_2327.JPG" /></a><br /><div><div>I think we've all witnessed miracles in our lives. I know I have at various times in my life. The impossible can be possible with a little time, faith, and work. I didn't think I'd ever be able to get pregnant on my own. I thought it was impossible, but apparantley it's not! Yes, without even trying, at all, I'm pregnant! My naturopath thinks it may have been the diet I've been on--no gluten, sugar, etc. for the last 5 months. I think it corrected my Polycystic ovary syndrome, and along with the weight loss, and various supplements to balance my hormones my body was able to function normally and apparantley felt ready to carry a baby! Of course I've been completely satisified being the mother of one adorable little boy and planned to add to our family through another round of IVF next Winter, but I guess God had other plans for our little family, or this little pea pod spirit REALLY wanted to come to earth and live NOW! She was like, no I'd like to be BORN in the middle of winter! (Marty thinks its a girl!) Our baby is due January 18th, just 4 days after Marty's birthday and a week after his mom's birthday. </div><div></div><div></div><div>How I found out:</div><div>I had thought my cycles were just thrown off because of the diet I've been doing, and that finally when I took a pregnancy test it must have just been a false positive because of the HCG shots, since that's what the test is actually reading, the presence of HCG. I kept taking the tests everyday, and everyday--Positive! This was a new sight for me, I'm used to seeing a big fat negative. I thought the test must just be broken! I really didn't think it could mean I was actually pregnant. A couple days later when I met with the naturopath she said she'd never seen anyone read a false positive on a pregnancy test and that I was most likely pregnant. The next day she called me with the results of the blood test, 97,140 mIU/ml HCG levels! Non-pregnant levels should be less than 5! Quite a bit more! She told me I was already 8 weeks pregnant. I've pretty much been in shock since I found out, and nervous about telling anyone until things were confirmed with an ultrasound. Yesterday we had that ultrasound and sure enough there really was a little fetus growing inside me! Not in the tubes, but right where its suppose to be with its little heart beating! Marty and I had tears of joy in our eyes, and I cheered and patted my belly--"good job little pea pod, you're right where you're suppose to be!"</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcIT04ZcWzcwe-W1fvy2CgAMq8ciED8KRKXdwtXQPd19dQWMDIFOI6EM6a7MZa0Ua4DNtxN6UlS5Dz-vVWNXmjFyya7tG9w_SzKN1V7KiqVvYTz2vrLAnT60tQLQx4GtFSh2d7Cx77T7J/s1600/IMG_3550.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5484535277977896690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwcIT04ZcWzcwe-W1fvy2CgAMq8ciED8KRKXdwtXQPd19dQWMDIFOI6EM6a7MZa0Ua4DNtxN6UlS5Dz-vVWNXmjFyya7tG9w_SzKN1V7KiqVvYTz2vrLAnT60tQLQx4GtFSh2d7Cx77T7J/s320/IMG_3550.JPG" /></a><br /><div></div><div>Though this was an unplanned miracle, we couldn't be happier. Cameron will be about 15 months when the baby is born. I think he already feels a connection, he'll pat my tummy, then burry his face in and lick my belly! He also loves to say "ba ba ba." Must mean "Baby!" Meanwhile besides a sore chest and extreme exhaustion, I feel wonderful. </div><div></div><br /><div>I'll be keeping you all posted! Thanks for all your continued love, support and friendships! </div><div>Love you all!</div><div></div></div></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-21488417097099577472010-05-29T16:19:00.000-07:002010-05-29T18:18:14.935-07:00Lazy Saturday<div>It's been a while since I had a Saturday with nothing to do. No trips off island, softball tournaments, endless chores, or people to see. Of course I could spread some bark on my flower beds, paint the trim on the new wall downstairs, go for a walk, finish the last 4' of my irrigation system, mop the floors, fold diapers, or unload the dishwasher, but so far I've done none of the above.<br /><br /><div><div><div><div>I slept in, thanks to Marty taking Cameron for the night, took a long shower with no one waiting on his bean bag for me to hurry on out, played with my baby, made beef fajitas thanks to Thriftway's meat dept. everything was cut and seasoned so it took me less than 5 minutes, finished a book, and caught up on my friend's blogs. Seems like they've been MIA as well. Glad I didn't miss much. It's kind of a dreary day around here, no rain, but no sun either. I always find it so hard to be motivated without the sun! I'm so tired too. I take Cameron on the weekdays since Marty's been going into work, and it's a good night when he sleeps 3 hours at a time. Even after a good night's sleep Friday night, I'm still exhausted. Not that I'm really complaining though, just using it as an excuse for being unmotivated. The other night he was fussing, and so I took him out of his bed and in with me, he quieted right down in my arms and went right back to sleep. As I layed there looking down at his sweet sleeping face I thought, "Life doesn't get better than this." </div><br /><div>Still when I think about the priviledge it is to be a mom, to be Cameron's mom, I want to cry. There is nothing that brings me more joy than that little boy! He's the happiest baby, always smiling, clapping, laughing. I think he's going to be one of those kids that talks to everyone in the grocery store. He's so social, and prefers watching children or people to just about anything. He'll watch people in the store, smile at them, and wait for them to smile back, when they do, his smile grows even bigger. Just last night the bagger was putting the groceries in the back while I was buckling him in, he was just staring at her and smiling, waiting for her to look at him. When she finally did see him, she started smiling, and he started trying to talk to her, "ahh! ahh!" he said, and smiled some more. What a sweet disposition he has. I can hear him right now, waking up from his nap (with daddy) laughing. We are so blessed!<br /></div><div>When he's unhappy, all you have to do is sing and he immediately breaks into a smile. You can just make up a song on the spot too like "what's the matter, what's the matter, what's the matter, huh?" sung to sort of rap tune. We still get the biggest giggles out of "Take out the paper's and the trash" (yakety yak, don't talk back). He loves that and "who let the dogs out, who? who? who?" He cracks us up. </div><div><br />He hasn't reached a lot of milestones though and at 8 months he's finally able to sit up without toppling over instantly, he claps his hands together, signs "milk," rolls where he wants to go, and is getting his first tooth. Oh and he's 20 lbs now! Sometimes he'll eat 2-3 jars of food at a time! Big boy! </div><br /><div>So I know what you really want to see is pictures, so here they are....</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-TtR9WvJfRNNj2Uf-ExNl2pX3ETj4aqHr-hqJmkMwg-V17SzRWYgMjX17_6uwUM2tR3WDkV5yCzTozYOhYXGdYZR1S3tpaQOvD2YXnLuS67CqMb8GpUuftqsmdUGCLy2PbdUamk51fLe/s1600/IMG_2150.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 214px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476843441144415762" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw-TtR9WvJfRNNj2Uf-ExNl2pX3ETj4aqHr-hqJmkMwg-V17SzRWYgMjX17_6uwUM2tR3WDkV5yCzTozYOhYXGdYZR1S3tpaQOvD2YXnLuS67CqMb8GpUuftqsmdUGCLy2PbdUamk51fLe/s320/IMG_2150.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusduK9mH5w4hi4aVkhMafBqEeJT8dAb_MHU7y5SvvfXs2jAviJVIk3TtuqRwRiWXv0MeRN4leFNwKKweOOXyoFCNfmVJeKNSzlIRFgUdUXwjwY6BkHpPf_NUM1yGmm17S-9lyxM1Nxv7n/s1600/IMG_2105.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476842387802295794" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhusduK9mH5w4hi4aVkhMafBqEeJT8dAb_MHU7y5SvvfXs2jAviJVIk3TtuqRwRiWXv0MeRN4leFNwKKweOOXyoFCNfmVJeKNSzlIRFgUdUXwjwY6BkHpPf_NUM1yGmm17S-9lyxM1Nxv7n/s320/IMG_2105.JPG" /></a> </div><div>Eating his toy--probably feels good on his tooth, and Mr. Peas face! </div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Ph3gL-bhCvY9BLap9ctRexi2KNS5zsb_rk935dprfWkjSuKr80iagH4rPMqo1hqoj5fzLXXIyDFtzkWGMMML1YWvBS3x-6AMj2TwCRoOS5aLX4YAOiaXqgIvpUfHYtEEgvNO3cniEYVb/s1600/IMG_1925.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 214px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476844332037144578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Ph3gL-bhCvY9BLap9ctRexi2KNS5zsb_rk935dprfWkjSuKr80iagH4rPMqo1hqoj5fzLXXIyDFtzkWGMMML1YWvBS3x-6AMj2TwCRoOS5aLX4YAOiaXqgIvpUfHYtEEgvNO3cniEYVb/s320/IMG_1925.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpDXkQgVpk_GG8yOrllHWc-QhjPGCYyoPc1JvkOGrsuYF2dIalYvI0svRdibviqsOpYjGGkWsEQ575qosqyu7mtzALLa4bMw-yoNrxZpA4di0B0Dh6ckhBWyXc5P0Opj4D0ZYleksf_9g/s1600/IMG_1753.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476845886721588514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXpDXkQgVpk_GG8yOrllHWc-QhjPGCYyoPc1JvkOGrsuYF2dIalYvI0svRdibviqsOpYjGGkWsEQ575qosqyu7mtzALLa4bMw-yoNrxZpA4di0B0Dh6ckhBWyXc5P0Opj4D0ZYleksf_9g/s320/IMG_1753.JPG" /></a></div><div>Manda's graduation, and Cam loving Morgan's little dog Boggie.</div><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ydw1v82PEdpDSYFO-GDx6oVUb9RB88H0LIXri6A2NCDUv8bSvuKAhlwibIQGgcJlqQhs6qSvwMQjshLiehCD8uPmHTqOGdwt47O4-lTa25fpL50VXmdr2Ay3LY0YvC_6WDO1aQ52cWpf/s1600/IMG_1721.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476847250793407506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ydw1v82PEdpDSYFO-GDx6oVUb9RB88H0LIXri6A2NCDUv8bSvuKAhlwibIQGgcJlqQhs6qSvwMQjshLiehCD8uPmHTqOGdwt47O4-lTa25fpL50VXmdr2Ay3LY0YvC_6WDO1aQ52cWpf/s320/IMG_1721.JPG" /></a></div><div>With grandma on mother's day, smiling at either daddy or Boggie. Later mom and I went to the James Taylor and Carole King concert, it was awesome!<br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4EsjOgDZEkkdTsvWxPa1-z8mBFmlqNiTOrc8-6YEJdn782Ue-KFJFoTae3Tby8ftjSIh9goc_1Zi4sR7kCqDBgdm8viNBG4dVh7IckN5THOACl11upZL_0XAyDG8GdYjxoAiUU9TNmeM/s1600/IMG_1155.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 320px; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5476848594862420050" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4EsjOgDZEkkdTsvWxPa1-z8mBFmlqNiTOrc8-6YEJdn782Ue-KFJFoTae3Tby8ftjSIh9goc_1Zi4sR7kCqDBgdm8viNBG4dVh7IckN5THOACl11upZL_0XAyDG8GdYjxoAiUU9TNmeM/s320/IMG_1155.JPG" /></a><br /><div>Love his chunky thighs in this picture and the way our eyes are glowing. Its funny 'cause when we look in the mirror, I seriously think his face is as wide as mine! I love my chunky monkey! Oh and P.S. I'm 2 lbs away from reaching my goal weight which will mean a total of 40 lbs lost once I get there! Crazy huh! Sorry no pictures of Marty, he's the one who takes all the pictures! He's doing good though, still at Adobe, staying busy, and may even teach FLEX part-time at UW (he has an interview on Tuesday). He's come highly recommended. He gets to go to San Jose for the day next week. </div><div> </div><div>My preschool is doing great! We have new kids starting all the time, and we're nearly completely full! Going to have to start a waiting list soon! Its nice though because I can afford to have 2 full-time assistants which means I only have to work when we're at our busiest, usually between 9:30-1, and I take Monday's totally off. Of course there's still all the admin stuff-payroll, scheduling, emailing people, but now I can do it during the day while Cameron naps and my afternoons/evenings are free for softball, gardening, and family time! </div><div> </div><div>I know some of my dear friends are struggling right now, life is not going as planned, and my heart goes out to them. I don't know why life for us is so good right now. I don't have a single thing to complain about and feel very very blessed. I have the greatest husband, live in paradise, and have the sweetest most adorable son in the whole wide world! I know my life has not been without challenges and I can feel the disappointment of what some of my friends are going through. I know that this too shall pass, and that hard times certainly make the sweet times that much sweeter! Hang in there friends, love you! --Jenny <br /></div></div></div></div></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-77669554909727626162010-03-08T11:06:00.000-08:002010-03-08T12:00:50.817-08:00Becoming the old me againBEFORE December 25, 2009<br /><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGwkW_HGLf1jqOy44s__OwFm5BjxlZml2cIwdVy0Ayzdqjvh471pibqIRUfnwmwbxL6jm7nVZb-ZSEPq6SsUQBd106QXgXK1MbH9NM_U5CedHWl-HD6YP9X2EM5l1I5wxV2cf5LXTH7N5/s1600-h/IMG_0509.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGwkW_HGLf1jqOy44s__OwFm5BjxlZml2cIwdVy0Ayzdqjvh471pibqIRUfnwmwbxL6jm7nVZb-ZSEPq6SsUQBd106QXgXK1MbH9NM_U5CedHWl-HD6YP9X2EM5l1I5wxV2cf5LXTH7N5/s320/IMG_0509.JPG" /></a> </div><div>AFTER March 8, 2010</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uBHDLkXGI3PbjGWj0ZEU9u6Ez11PbhqwUezHeP9Y1jPCBpwH1GBikOP7iNM9frfA6MsZG7r99935Ut9VdchQHsAxAqT4Pi_skZGjMsipkEiJ-L8DnrnT8Lz0eFQbJmlMSsZunXV6TelM/s1600-h/2+months+into+diet.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446341838185852242" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-uBHDLkXGI3PbjGWj0ZEU9u6Ez11PbhqwUezHeP9Y1jPCBpwH1GBikOP7iNM9frfA6MsZG7r99935Ut9VdchQHsAxAqT4Pi_skZGjMsipkEiJ-L8DnrnT8Lz0eFQbJmlMSsZunXV6TelM/s320/2+months+into+diet.jpg" /></a></div><div></div><div>Well I decided to blog about my recent weight loss. I HATE this picture of me taken at Christmas. I can't believe I had gotten so fat! I guess if I hadn't seen this picture though, I wouldn't have been so motivated to lose weight. Today I'm actually in jeans I wore 2 1/2 years ago. So in a couple months I've taken over 2 years of weight off my body. That feels good! I've lost 25 lbs and have 14 lbs more to lose to reach my goal of where I was 4 1/2 years ago. </div><div></div><br /><div>So as I said in the title I'm becoming the old me again. Not just in the weight department either. I feel happy again, really really happy. I have more confidence, am more motivated, and don't mind being around people. I used to be so depressed, embarrassed of my body, I never wanted to leave the house. The change really started with adopting Cameron, and filling that void in my heart that I used to just fill with food. Now its filled with the joy Cameron brings to our lives. I have a new motivation to be healthy, raising a healthy boy! </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Here's a picture taken a couple days ago of our happy little boy, laughing at us as we sing "Who let the dogs out, who? who? who?" Makes him laugh everytime, that and "Yakety yak, don't talk back." He's also taken to rolling on his side, but that's about as far as he gets. He gets to start eating solids in just a couple weeks, so we were testing out the highchair. He's just the best baby! We love him dearly! Truly the greatest blessing and miracle of our lives! </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeKqLZy_njiHjuUPhqWWTMISn_U9MshuESg60K-s2HjUjMuLaDnXDpfCfekuVra02Zd3uSE6voB5txDC4pEtfklUMXnOzouVV2AocQ3OwA2V7FdVKhYLa8bcLFl7Wihm4EHxJu7eoXKh0E/s1600-h/IMG_2221.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446345817931642546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeKqLZy_njiHjuUPhqWWTMISn_U9MshuESg60K-s2HjUjMuLaDnXDpfCfekuVra02Zd3uSE6voB5txDC4pEtfklUMXnOzouVV2AocQ3OwA2V7FdVKhYLa8bcLFl7Wihm4EHxJu7eoXKh0E/s320/IMG_2221.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfzE1mB4_etEIXv8Xa1WRbkJ2QYLoFIBZ3dX2m0CLiDbprxUPgprTwrJQVi9nkMAa5SFz5XyXIUWte-qnv5UmCxaDMHH0IcGpRtF-4_c-4HSOsv2noMnY2tCnCcKdVo7kv3Kqnk5YpTO8/s1600-h/IMG_2095.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 240px; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446348133941125954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUfzE1mB4_etEIXv8Xa1WRbkJ2QYLoFIBZ3dX2m0CLiDbprxUPgprTwrJQVi9nkMAa5SFz5XyXIUWte-qnv5UmCxaDMHH0IcGpRtF-4_c-4HSOsv2noMnY2tCnCcKdVo7kv3Kqnk5YpTO8/s320/IMG_2095.JPG" /></a> <div style="CLEAR: both"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; BORDER-TOP: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" border="0" alt="Posted by Picasa" align="middle" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" /></a></div></div></div></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-17870613614036802752009-12-18T18:56:00.000-08:002009-12-18T18:56:54.512-08:00Adoption FinalizedJust wanted to post a few pictures from the courhouse, where the adoption was finalized yesterday December 17, 2009. It was short and sweet. Cameron fell asleep while we were waiting to go in, but awoke as soon as the judge started talking. It was really cute. We feel so ecstatic! We were even able to do live video stream from Marty's cell phone so his parent's could be "with us" in Oregon. Love technology!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFLKY0-kit1h6yaOcm_I_v590LEzu0p65P_LCfrJyjcaf8ljN68F_gPOYnsyFjP8HXHPnkXQ6RGhZJmarwqQkz-_sqyGn87SVmeMxRzgQ6fFifBWV7IMMfZl1KqzQcBv6ubPShVl0BZJl/s1600-h/IMG_0150.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFLKY0-kit1h6yaOcm_I_v590LEzu0p65P_LCfrJyjcaf8ljN68F_gPOYnsyFjP8HXHPnkXQ6RGhZJmarwqQkz-_sqyGn87SVmeMxRzgQ6fFifBWV7IMMfZl1KqzQcBv6ubPShVl0BZJl/s160/IMG_0150.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXUQBhUbrO7Cn0vXK7JlDqeCZ3zXtCZsz706dinTGiJ9Pj59IDaHIudG66yCEFIwCoYVC_PQPIU84pOIgHkCjihakkfLXs43U2uvwqDteMh56RMRuLdmuxPY-TxU_M670BDlOidpNKlY8/s1600-h/IMG_0177.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFXUQBhUbrO7Cn0vXK7JlDqeCZ3zXtCZsz706dinTGiJ9Pj59IDaHIudG66yCEFIwCoYVC_PQPIU84pOIgHkCjihakkfLXs43U2uvwqDteMh56RMRuLdmuxPY-TxU_M670BDlOidpNKlY8/s160/IMG_0177.JPG" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlApeV7hq_HIEqA8wgNcaH8DV_uvNi6VEV7PY_f4OOFtyFZUbYwM3JOZ0yfMguSbUhqFT-7fGo8Et9f2u32Hz89WnxNTdiWATBCZ4wK2bb5ZXvXnHzOCX5I1SmWgU11XHzSGh-1MOFB7JX/s1600-h/IMG_0168.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlApeV7hq_HIEqA8wgNcaH8DV_uvNi6VEV7PY_f4OOFtyFZUbYwM3JOZ0yfMguSbUhqFT-7fGo8Et9f2u32Hz89WnxNTdiWATBCZ4wK2bb5ZXvXnHzOCX5I1SmWgU11XHzSGh-1MOFB7JX/s160/IMG_0168.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeGdYiFCUF3BBjaoi8jpb1mzpYNoVfN0-KXBT5UUfQwzcKW86DmWxcHRrq6ImgN-Fm_nsLQUJ6fzGcWR2RsLE4onbGzQ6eGqcnqCWB-aGbe4La2dQ5qYqmb92EhntPFvRV3UJDH1zfLJS/s1600-h/IMG_0178.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCeGdYiFCUF3BBjaoi8jpb1mzpYNoVfN0-KXBT5UUfQwzcKW86DmWxcHRrq6ImgN-Fm_nsLQUJ6fzGcWR2RsLE4onbGzQ6eGqcnqCWB-aGbe4La2dQ5qYqmb92EhntPFvRV3UJDH1zfLJS/s160/IMG_0178.JPG" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-12915351030733939972009-12-06T10:36:00.000-08:002009-12-06T15:21:56.890-08:00Making up for lost time!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJqGhYubkvzPnAI7-Epcq7Y37iFfclRkiIRYMTHWuQRipiZexjXU9YJaW4lCBTNHsUVeEZQ58SYhdg_tj-wMC3qomIYeUt4sWIjGWwvq0vUg-ycNhO7unJohRnnwPAkYs_MKY1K7KaIBz/s1600-h/IMG_3432.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJqGhYubkvzPnAI7-Epcq7Y37iFfclRkiIRYMTHWuQRipiZexjXU9YJaW4lCBTNHsUVeEZQ58SYhdg_tj-wMC3qomIYeUt4sWIjGWwvq0vUg-ycNhO7unJohRnnwPAkYs_MKY1K7KaIBz/s200/IMG_3432.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412264896605116210" /></a>I think its been about 2 months since I last blogged, wow! That's the longest I've ever gone! A lot has happened and at the same time nothing has changed. Just to clear up the record on Bea. I knew Bea from caring for her for her aunt whom she was living with. When her aunt could no longer care for her, Bea's social worker asked if I knew anyone on the island willing to take her. I eagerly volunteered. The social worker really wanted her to stay on the island, so she could have her weekend visits with her dad. So we were able to be her guardians without being licensed as foster parents. However, after 2 months with us, she's now returning home to live with her dad, tomorrow. <div><br /></div><div>Cameron changes everyd<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwexQmcZ3sjgO3bkTm5cbUc1tiY0GPV-CXIb6G_pe_PySWNyG3uKl-gbl1iG0hFTeKZoum-7T3pa6Msgmbyn30bEzE54xLEU0ZX_DwEU6Ut6cOQGWQhQmruJseUWLOdsZDfDaW00PPz9BM/s1600-h/IMG_1890.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwexQmcZ3sjgO3bkTm5cbUc1tiY0GPV-CXIb6G_pe_PySWNyG3uKl-gbl1iG0hFTeKZoum-7T3pa6Msgmbyn30bEzE54xLEU0ZX_DwEU6Ut6cOQGWQhQmruJseUWLOdsZDfDaW00PPz9BM/s200/IMG_1890.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412195952780871842" border="0" /></a>ay, and as he does we fall more and more in love with him. I love motherhood more than anything in this whole world. I love to wake up and see Cameron smiling at me as he lays next to me in our bed. I love how he tries to talk to me with his ahhh gaaa, oooo, and fake coughs. I love that he lets me dress him up in cute outfits, hats, and shoes, then take a thousand pictures of him. I love that Marty is such a great daddy--changing poopy diapers, using the cloth diapers even though he thinks its gross, taking Cameron for all or 1/2 the night every other night so we both can be rested. I love the way he stares up at me wit<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWOrGBIeG7yDGeiCT-Cq5sKCSQinhTHW0T9i8PTk6ECa0CTjoRTW8m2xLHEuXactHvbBCeveumMpkQdn_Wc09e5VIKbTyPwdXW70zfMsTe-zxnBNQMVmYcKrVh6GpLA_DCzvyZ8l7F7zA/s1600-h/IMG_2240.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWOrGBIeG7yDGeiCT-Cq5sKCSQinhTHW0T9i8PTk6ECa0CTjoRTW8m2xLHEuXactHvbBCeveumMpkQdn_Wc09e5VIKbTyPwdXW70zfMsTe-zxnBNQMVmYcKrVh6GpLA_DCzvyZ8l7F7zA/s200/IMG_2240.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412199171430786786" border="0" /></a>h his big blue, blueberry eyes when I feed him. I love that I can bring him to work with me and that he gets plenty of auntie Mand<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSIJpw8wsf52DDUm0srRy16fYmuYfSd6TScCcvRBJsD8tp_XCmhcsok-4dBeTM6JKpj20ZK8F6q-v74n-2rHGDnsJoQmLjbZjs6vcpvAYOSlaaY21dq6DPIf2dFTBErbr0W6L2gtDP3xWM/s200/IMG_3240.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412263937979041346" />a time, as well as gets to watch and learn from all the children. I love watching him learn new things- pulling his bottle towards and away from him, lifting up his head from his tummy, holding his head up, etc. He's making his milestones before I have time to read up on them. I love that he has soo many family members that love him! I don't think there's anything about being a new mommy that I don't love. I don't even mind getting up with him in the middle of the night to feed him. It's amazing how waiting your whole life for something changes how you feel about things. :o)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvBw0HVl1QpklW3uC-aL_pjcjnJSfpouUguyQxZKKZO34QuuFJBcHN4xXTraQdgOOYK3HbvMkNpkK98l2vNtIbOlo9IPzOgeDqcpCLY7zbEgKUhLSRypOmOtsI5jKZAw3y8oZ7eFJC-2I/s1600-h/IMG_1962.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIvBw0HVl1QpklW3uC-aL_pjcjnJSfpouUguyQxZKKZO34QuuFJBcHN4xXTraQdgOOYK3HbvMkNpkK98l2vNtIbOlo9IPzOgeDqcpCLY7zbEgKUhLSRypOmOtsI5jKZAw3y8oZ7eFJC-2I/s200/IMG_1962.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412198201629349298" border="0" /></a>He's gotten to see many members of his birth family, as well as taken a road trip down to Oregon to see Marty's family. Marty's mom loved having him, and held him any chance she got. When they came up a week after he was born, she <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6P7xmwRBxnvFmC3u0aiRrwjHD4emDfnZJTUn2c9BSgdaCuFzsZRNP8NK8CZo1JOMcXkFoJmwE1WttEyQQYkD_sgi8it3eEBuIjWAkXFgZj3Osu1EL2wegVtpk1sa9x8uJEBdcT27rE7r/s1600-h/IMG_2410.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP6P7xmwRBxnvFmC3u0aiRrwjHD4emDfnZJTUn2c9BSgdaCuFzsZRNP8NK8CZo1JOMcXkFoJmwE1WttEyQQYkD_sgi8it3eEBuIjWAkXFgZj3Osu1EL2wegVtpk1sa9x8uJEBdcT27rE7r/s200/IMG_2410.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412200289590026338" border="0" /></a>didn't get to hold him nearly as much :o) Shirley made the best Thanksgiving dinner, and Cameron looked adorable in his My Little Turkey outfit. Incidently, Cameron's birth dad's family live 30 minutes away from Marty's parent's, so they were all able to come have lunch with us over the weekend. A couple week's before that we had Cameron's birth mom's dad and step mom over for dinner, which they loved, and a month before that Cameron's birth mom's mom and sisters were up visiting from Spokane for her sister's baby shower and they got to meet Cam for the first time.<br /><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAFRvJ-oU21bPBV90Le_hy8wLl8x1VN_4AHrMeE4VjRbdW8iIbvEIyLSalo9EXc7OMV3AALOfbrd96DhnLhfaDD766JgNJlaJbBKxOGCF7bnf_c9vGnCZvzcTaOakrI5igad5yVdhCWKf/s200/IMG_3288.JPG" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412264253485212226" />Now its back to just us, my mom who he sees him regularly (being that she lives right next door), and my sister of course, who works with me at the preschool. I really feel like the more people that Cameron has to love him, the better it will be for him. I think it makes things easier for his birth family as well, to know and to see how blessed Cameron is to be with us, how happy and content he is, and to know of our grattitude for giving us this sweet, sweet boy. I know Cameron's securely attached to us his mommy and daddy. If Manda is holding him, and he hears my voice, he stops what he's doing, and turns towards my voice. When he sees Marty giving him one of his big silly smiles, he almost always breaks into a grin. I can tell by the way he looks at me that he knows I'm his forever mommy. The other night, I decided to take a bath as Ca<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1GlGk_fAdPld2-j0z9VGG9avZc5-dQV5oVTXrydlFIRNava93wQ38wIEsjrutr1lKQSMfmWvM5Z5ZCTMjXnT1ywSOVVBMDnyY-CFEIdAXo0WsJAw9DVCLa8JfBg0nuzBJq83Yy8OFDxT/s1600-h/IMG_2036.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1GlGk_fAdPld2-j0z9VGG9avZc5-dQV5oVTXrydlFIRNava93wQ38wIEsjrutr1lKQSMfmWvM5Z5ZCTMjXnT1ywSOVVBMDnyY-CFEIdAXo0WsJAw9DVCLa8JfBg0nuzBJq83Yy8OFDxT/s200/IMG_2036.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412197741589132386" border="0" /></a>meron had fallen asleep for what I thought was the night. Marty still had Bea, but they were all doing fine, so I brought the lap top in with me to catch an episode of Law and Order while I soaked. After 45 minutes I heard the loudest cry Cameron's ever made. I hopped out, and found <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2Sjubd3qLBGJl1cFIBQAleZBkbYKKuZ32CEbFhLpRx8JSP9AfXctWSFEY3TYcFECtzGaEz6beeP6b8v79nVu_Gp4YmzxytfyvyxTAR_MgYQ6soejYJXrRqldZ2jur73ZTd6D3emQjRW2/s200/IMG_2662.JPG" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412194794856947746" border="0" />that Marty had been doing everything he could to calm him--bottle, diaper change, bouncing, etc. (turns out it was most likely due to trying to give him breast milk we'd just gotten, after a month on formula, poor baby's tummy just wasn't happy). But, I just held him against my chest and sat with him in the glider, and he instantly stopped crying and feel back asleep. I thought back to when he was born and the doctor placed him on my chest, and how I sang to him and he stopped crying. He must know I'm his mommy, and I will comfort and love him whenever he needs it.<br /><br />Speaking of forever... we have a court hearing on December 17th to finalize<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUalQ38vQ1VIZaunia0Tu20RACnuv2T2F3XfDXer6Hq0emUyTzuBy6dnK87RIfjxpmuSyr3kr5edKf08wUiBLe560cFeD3iNK5B-RKhw0rtQ3chlY3nRcBZttihTHa3Hu4M1MW3cJXK1NG/s1600-h/IMG_2347.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUalQ38vQ1VIZaunia0Tu20RACnuv2T2F3XfDXer6Hq0emUyTzuBy6dnK87RIfjxpmuSyr3kr5edKf08wUiBLe560cFeD3iNK5B-RKhw0rtQ3chlY3nRcBZttihTHa3Hu4M1MW3cJXK1NG/s200/IMG_2347.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412200979050013458" border="0" /></a> the adoption!! Yay! Then on the 22nd we will go to the temple to have Cameron sealed to us for all eternity, and finally, he'll be blessed at church by his daddy, and grandpa's on the 27th. December will be a special month for the Mickelson's! Not to mention it's Cameron's first <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqaMV3VOrA7fwzSmVbu8lS4VF6__Le7iO0MKT3w1WdBJTF1mZxK2OchlirXlHpJhQG_kLMNKdRvsHEP-aAfbeFdYZQaKMywPL3sPDzrnPVqZerbDtn29mw0DP3yJz3-genGRVyXD81CHXa/s1600-h/IMG_2084.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqaMV3VOrA7fwzSmVbu8lS4VF6__Le7iO0MKT3w1WdBJTF1mZxK2OchlirXlHpJhQG_kLMNKdRvsHEP-aAfbeFdYZQaKMywPL3sPDzrnPVqZerbDtn29mw0DP3yJz3-genGRVyXD81CHXa/s200/IMG_2084.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412199852641074498" border="0" /></a>Christmas, and to celebrate we went out and cut down a 10' tall Christmas tree! Its really sweet to celebrate all the first's with Cameron, his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. These holidays always remind me of family, and now we have our own little family, can build traditions, and celebrate together. I think I'm the happiest I've ever been. God has truly blessed us. Ok, sorry this has been such a long post, I'll try to post more regularly, so they won't be so long :o) I do add pictures to our picasa web album regularly, but don't always get to the writing of the blog :o(<br /><br />We love you all, and if we don't tell you before then, have a Merry Chirstmas! We'll sure miss our little Bea, but are excited that she gets to live with her daddy whom she loves and misses.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZJN4SX2PsMu_3EHgjhjdp84eq8x5O9wRDSDU2xO4bP8OE0h4E9brE7-irS6G-v0T-ll8YLV-0RbBUQ9TWrHD_SX4fPVlv5dg1j8kuXHpJbaU-h_MnLhucyPMJAiF7DP6z-J0Xn_H6FY9/s1600-h/IMG_2402.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbZJN4SX2PsMu_3EHgjhjdp84eq8x5O9wRDSDU2xO4bP8OE0h4E9brE7-irS6G-v0T-ll8YLV-0RbBUQ9TWrHD_SX4fPVlv5dg1j8kuXHpJbaU-h_MnLhucyPMJAiF7DP6z-J0Xn_H6FY9/s200/IMG_2402.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412202308471173058" border="0" /></a><div style="clear: both;">If Bea learned anything from us, its how to multi-task--look at how she can feed one baby, while holding the other! <a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-47621226399536360952009-10-17T09:24:00.000-07:002009-10-17T09:24:16.685-07:00First excursion with Baby CamMarty and I have become guardians for this little angel named Bea. She's 3 and sweet as can be! We took her and Baby Cam to the Aquarium yesterday. Cameron managed to sleep the entire time. It was his first time in the Ergo. I think he likes it! Marty and I couldn't be happier or prouder parents! Cameron is our little cuddle bug, and Bea is our little helper. We love them both! Cameron loves Bea too, he'll just sit and listen to her as she talks on and on. Its really cute.<br /><br />Oh and yes I am feeling 100% better after having my appendix out last week. Luckily it didn't rupture, and thankfully Marty is still off of work. We found out we were getting Bea the day after I got out of surgery. Never a dull moment around here! At least we had a couple of weeks to get used to parenthood ;o) <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9FMvIHFEDZd2hbwq13HlZxg-jxDvqQPl8499_83Akh-NoEUgp0BSra4e7HosAZyKbawbjZSrQHRqfGziuzaQAEknnO5XqttI__53D9Ql7okqrrUc0FeD68DZPffmqEi9_U37rBjEUMLO/s1600-h/IMG_1470.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9FMvIHFEDZd2hbwq13HlZxg-jxDvqQPl8499_83Akh-NoEUgp0BSra4e7HosAZyKbawbjZSrQHRqfGziuzaQAEknnO5XqttI__53D9Ql7okqrrUc0FeD68DZPffmqEi9_U37rBjEUMLO/s320/IMG_1470.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitcC88Em2CC_z1iEBqbpniqZV7bI8It2N0jLPZfO3vVhNi_D9MLqmSDOEeVfLUHr2mB9tyhP2cPG1q6Rykx8Lv6_9rGDlbQ9_mPiv82SLMBCyhwSQup217mMQKh2TotPvOazmXNymEoc5v/s1600-h/IMG_1499.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitcC88Em2CC_z1iEBqbpniqZV7bI8It2N0jLPZfO3vVhNi_D9MLqmSDOEeVfLUHr2mB9tyhP2cPG1q6Rykx8Lv6_9rGDlbQ9_mPiv82SLMBCyhwSQup217mMQKh2TotPvOazmXNymEoc5v/s320/IMG_1499.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIndf35NiEjbt6S7Llgdu-yo-wq6p7_9j3JhHf7JN8Wy-q6xmE2t_1o-dw1c-CfV8hB_1HTeMXJaiHEdsxJfkeLKwE9zze41TQv_sdEhq0vVjSImMk-CIUrkAPOm6pRu0-g3TDJJq1FLV/s1600-h/IMG_1484.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIndf35NiEjbt6S7Llgdu-yo-wq6p7_9j3JhHf7JN8Wy-q6xmE2t_1o-dw1c-CfV8hB_1HTeMXJaiHEdsxJfkeLKwE9zze41TQv_sdEhq0vVjSImMk-CIUrkAPOm6pRu0-g3TDJJq1FLV/s320/IMG_1484.JPG" border="0" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-38397922247677500742009-10-01T19:15:00.000-07:002009-10-01T20:41:01.653-07:00Little Cameron<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Happy 1 week Birthday little Cameron<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ59pyGf0JyVb-5n8DArL-KTayPZ1b69HDr7n6Mu5ZT6GViECzF_tb8tJjM3C7SGrj7SXqnbJDYza1CPXCyOntJaWWHOvDdiZ4e5xVnbAgMibOlQaTeDh2q0gulWxSQgl8g5lEKb-Jezcy/s1600-h/IMG_1108.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ59pyGf0JyVb-5n8DArL-KTayPZ1b69HDr7n6Mu5ZT6GViECzF_tb8tJjM3C7SGrj7SXqnbJDYza1CPXCyOntJaWWHOvDdiZ4e5xVnbAgMibOlQaTeDh2q0gulWxSQgl8g5lEKb-Jezcy/s320/IMG_1108.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /></div></div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdGLUaO_UfhoIsl3o4HKZKUMUvUuq_8xIlxzyFMpVsgAhWEc1l9RUCzvM-VPNyD-7V2Ee637eSkoQNtzkC_xzWjVtPsjNMk7dTd60Nbwyw6gjzh6EoG_T5JlgPQzimuv0cASaP1DBvMwz/s1600-h/IMG_1152.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdGLUaO_UfhoIsl3o4HKZKUMUvUuq_8xIlxzyFMpVsgAhWEc1l9RUCzvM-VPNyD-7V2Ee637eSkoQNtzkC_xzWjVtPsjNMk7dTd60Nbwyw6gjzh6EoG_T5JlgPQzimuv0cASaP1DBvMwz/s320/IMG_1152.JPG" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj051Y9hfalgWyHjVelhGVSyuRpRqcBTE9ZdKFwPtu0wJIh70vWgcc5k4-YWM1MXhl3zzV412SEDAvTJb74cNuX3YFSu2727O0UawA-1Y0CYcfwJyyFgRTpEJr6bheDntX3w1BfIp-d6UPX/s1600-h/IMG_1143.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj051Y9hfalgWyHjVelhGVSyuRpRqcBTE9ZdKFwPtu0wJIh70vWgcc5k4-YWM1MXhl3zzV412SEDAvTJb74cNuX3YFSu2727O0UawA-1Y0CYcfwJyyFgRTpEJr6bheDntX3w1BfIp-d6UPX/s320/IMG_1143.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />One week ago we received the best gift of our lives, a little baby boy, we named Cameron Edward. He was born at 3:18am on Thursday September 24th at the University of Washington Medical Center. He came after a long labor, but was perfectly healthy and calm upon arriving. When the Dr. placed him on my chest I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. I think it was the happiest day of my life. His birth mom was incredibly strong and patient as we awaited Cameron's entry into this world. She was the calmest laboring woman I've ever seen. We then spent the next 2 days at the hospital receiving excellent care and help with breastfeeding. They gave us each our own room and we took turns sleeping and caring for little Cameron. Maranda and I ended up rooming together the second day so we could both breastfeed. Then she came home to Vashon with us to recover and allow her milk to come in. It was pure bliss bringing this little angel home.<br /><br />He is a very content and happy little boy. He hardly cries and loves to be held and cuddled. I can't help but spend my every waking moment staring at him. He has the biggest almond shaped blue eyes, a very distinct nose, and tiny little lips. He's got lots of dark brown hair and a perfectly shaped head. He has long feet and toes, and his skin is a little flaky from being in the belly an extra 2 weeks. I was able to shower with him today which he just loved, feeling the warm water against his back, he almost fell asleep. It was sweet.<br /><br />I will write more later and post more pictures, but right now I'm going to take a quick nap while Cameron sleeps in grandma's arms. <br /><br />PS If you haven't seen it, here's some video from Cameron's first moments of life. <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN-DbHlbczE" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1254267690_2">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN-DbHlbczE</span></a><br /><div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-56129061954700748892009-09-13T21:36:00.000-07:002009-09-13T21:55:32.508-07:00Still nesting, no baby yet :o(So what do you do when you're waiting around for a baby to be born? You decide to decorate your house by making curtains for all the windows. I've been wanting to add some color to our home for some time, and have felt an urgent need to do so before the baby arrives, along with cleaning the house from top to bottom, and now drying plums. So NOW the baby can come, but not until after 10:00 am tomorrow morning, because I'm getting inspected by the department of early learning so I can be a licensed child care provider. It's been 3 months since I turned in all my paperwork, so I really don't want to reschedule. Come on baby, just another 12 hours, then you can come! We also decided to move the new glider out of the nursery so we can get more use out of it. We figured since the baby would be co-sleeping, it didn't really matter where the glider went, and if we put it in the living room we'll use it a lot more. Ahhhhhh it's so nice! Marty loves it, which I'll use to my advantage in persuading him to get up with the baby in the middle of the night :o) <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TZcNgsj0v6q0ydysN9zFukF-PFs9dhkGe6D7ln144Jczy1Y6EZyQgI_jT0VPNvdMA2TDP27al6HaiMDeewO4fZs_aO2fNUOoZy0jne26Ms946s9hPQle3rduiIX-G16nktxAz-d0dhIb/s1600-h/IMG_0659.JPG"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TZcNgsj0v6q0ydysN9zFukF-PFs9dhkGe6D7ln144Jczy1Y6EZyQgI_jT0VPNvdMA2TDP27al6HaiMDeewO4fZs_aO2fNUOoZy0jne26Ms946s9hPQle3rduiIX-G16nktxAz-d0dhIb/s320/IMG_0659.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381180918813663474" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrubIPV638_0mJ624JG27K4Nd10f5KIXfqiLRQQj44eItnq6HoP_ZZK65i2UBRcJWO_gcUpMlkAyOw29FJ_FLiX-rZf329_4_7pWJIAFj8PTEU9O1SbIk2PU8Y7I5JIUWGQxds1nIpNHe/s1600-h/IMG_0653.JPG"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGrubIPV638_0mJ624JG27K4Nd10f5KIXfqiLRQQj44eItnq6HoP_ZZK65i2UBRcJWO_gcUpMlkAyOw29FJ_FLiX-rZf329_4_7pWJIAFj8PTEU9O1SbIk2PU8Y7I5JIUWGQxds1nIpNHe/s320/IMG_0653.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381178199227837138" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TZcNgsj0v6q0ydysN9zFukF-PFs9dhkGe6D7ln144Jczy1Y6EZyQgI_jT0VPNvdMA2TDP27al6HaiMDeewO4fZs_aO2fNUOoZy0jne26Ms946s9hPQle3rduiIX-G16nktxAz-d0dhIb/s1600-h/IMG_0659.JPG"> </a><br /><br />This was the fabric I had wanted to do the curtains in, but it was a little too bold for the style of my living room, but it goes perfectly down in the preschool.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWpCeNw7L13BZYFC3DQfiB1nq2vjrB0S2A-DquFcY0FhLzX2rWwY6Deu1OLJhcbavklhFonvfujmtmSbCZAjYM75qBUyVCe_uT9PVzlZU6qpcUzU21DcWJmQih9dYlrUkzSOSVVQmH4i-/s1600-h/IMG_0640.JPG"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWpCeNw7L13BZYFC3DQfiB1nq2vjrB0S2A-DquFcY0FhLzX2rWwY6Deu1OLJhcbavklhFonvfujmtmSbCZAjYM75qBUyVCe_uT9PVzlZU6qpcUzU21DcWJmQih9dYlrUkzSOSVVQmH4i-/s320/IMG_0640.JPG" border="0" /></a><div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-91584919596800510492009-08-30T22:07:00.000-07:002009-08-30T22:23:01.199-07:00HarvestingWhile I've been waiting for little ninja's arrival, I've been busy canning. Here's what I got done last week. Recently I did another dozen jars of applesauce, apple pie filling, more raspberry jam, and crushed tomatoes. I still have more cucumbers to pickle as well. It's exhausting work, but a lot of fun too.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLokk6kckBjM0C-wNvDkK-tsykxWcTyo2FAYsi47Wi7LaLxunLUSWx6rqjvmmzIg1SIP6JnYY-zsDrSti_JLD28Eop1JvXERP7PnOPVgKjSNWx17tUwm4RZjrhnQYtw0H_TpAY4QXPvN_o/s1600-h/preschool+picts+165.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLokk6kckBjM0C-wNvDkK-tsykxWcTyo2FAYsi47Wi7LaLxunLUSWx6rqjvmmzIg1SIP6JnYY-zsDrSti_JLD28Eop1JvXERP7PnOPVgKjSNWx17tUwm4RZjrhnQYtw0H_TpAY4QXPvN_o/s320/preschool+picts+165.jpg" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-sMllBEA1-mqrWoHmxeBzjmfijp4PLitad5ekO9JcPHAhM3geo5yPIySiwFyfqnwZg47Lv2-StUvFtuzW3hdpXKH5hRkaxLkIQ6rqI75rWKo6-XdvMfbsChEwb7CAMV94z1ru3h8VlFu/s1600-h/preschool+picts+180.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0-sMllBEA1-mqrWoHmxeBzjmfijp4PLitad5ekO9JcPHAhM3geo5yPIySiwFyfqnwZg47Lv2-StUvFtuzW3hdpXKH5hRkaxLkIQ6rqI75rWKo6-XdvMfbsChEwb7CAMV94z1ru3h8VlFu/s320/preschool+picts+180.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375990979520924002" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The baby shower was a lot of fun. We played games, ate yummy food with many fresh ingredients from the garden, and opened a lot of presents! It was so nice to see so many friends from the olden days, as well as their moms! How grateful I am for Maranda and her family, as well as the many friends and family of ours that have been so supportive. <br /><br /><div style="clear: both;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjqyyjDKIR0Nrb_KvMx3LIjuiEDDgSkqaWlGDk4jCx6TUnkmZHEJnsnskZHXn3LzABwDJHjDU0JA_fsx9Ym6NFRoqZLjjuMO7iBju9Eo9riycp3DdxVBsc7wHbRD9oG7OUlcNPoNx5DCh/s1600-h/preschool+picts+147.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjqyyjDKIR0Nrb_KvMx3LIjuiEDDgSkqaWlGDk4jCx6TUnkmZHEJnsnskZHXn3LzABwDJHjDU0JA_fsx9Ym6NFRoqZLjjuMO7iBju9Eo9riycp3DdxVBsc7wHbRD9oG7OUlcNPoNx5DCh/s320/preschool+picts+147.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375992082802980418" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0jJ1aH1cDV1NUeIYOV9OjgFVKWJJIpO257lOIWPeARBVaUf8DIVFgdxGDGyKo7a2vFGihIt9sYi4MoitFE6OzEdLR2Rp8yGNBJ-tJWiNuJG2Y3Gj3ROHXC5OTPg1taOa6GZ6S6tokg6G/s1600-h/preschool+picts+160.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0jJ1aH1cDV1NUeIYOV9OjgFVKWJJIpO257lOIWPeARBVaUf8DIVFgdxGDGyKo7a2vFGihIt9sYi4MoitFE6OzEdLR2Rp8yGNBJ-tJWiNuJG2Y3Gj3ROHXC5OTPg1taOa6GZ6S6tokg6G/s320/preschool+picts+160.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375992486436813346" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2VRxT2J1RvDty1_lr4mnNrnJyoddKRIepM3ppnuhu7u8EoiQ9jUVMpXX1ItPThPii72F562YUHiRpBh6MDsJa5M_G3YApsEO3AoeiEU3dOrr74cKsL00TgJgFYHbFWFRxWTk-LQuj7Tw/s1600-h/preschool+picts+122.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp2VRxT2J1RvDty1_lr4mnNrnJyoddKRIepM3ppnuhu7u8EoiQ9jUVMpXX1ItPThPii72F562YUHiRpBh6MDsJa5M_G3YApsEO3AoeiEU3dOrr74cKsL00TgJgFYHbFWFRxWTk-LQuj7Tw/s320/preschool+picts+122.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375993297133555074" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDTNgo-Z1OtHpWVoy_zHCwNC28jsiF8lbIJzLdnS4-Uqt-9IEx2ZWgf0ZtP6lUp2609dW-FULo6T9ri106KtEqc7U7lNSGPO6n2szXT-JNsC_1MYA8so17gXRehu8aAZ9np8-obrGXzXi/s1600-h/preschool+picts+106.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDTNgo-Z1OtHpWVoy_zHCwNC28jsiF8lbIJzLdnS4-Uqt-9IEx2ZWgf0ZtP6lUp2609dW-FULo6T9ri106KtEqc7U7lNSGPO6n2szXT-JNsC_1MYA8so17gXRehu8aAZ9np8-obrGXzXi/s320/preschool+picts+106.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5375992714833329634" border="0" /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-59778046398818972182009-08-26T10:32:00.000-07:002009-08-26T10:40:54.174-07:00Almost time!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJGmwa80UKdpklpNMt-6KUAaOBnS5TkY8W3hzzM52jS2ucXR7ptv1hR3SIeJn9QQE26f72tsxIj-t5nVEqX8eHqlffS9OpyaA__F4Y3dq9T2Pf7Yj8JJdLMwCtUW6q94gGbzK5RXGfw7_/s1600-h/Picture+or+Video+428.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJGmwa80UKdpklpNMt-6KUAaOBnS5TkY8W3hzzM52jS2ucXR7ptv1hR3SIeJn9QQE26f72tsxIj-t5nVEqX8eHqlffS9OpyaA__F4Y3dq9T2Pf7Yj8JJdLMwCtUW6q94gGbzK5RXGfw7_/s320/Picture+or+Video+428.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374328685028686258" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I just wanted to post a couple of pictures from the midwife appointment last week. Little ninja is doing well. He has 2 weeks till his due date which means he could come any day! Maranda and I have been spending a lot of time together lately which has been really fun. I just love this woman, and the little one inside her! This is the happiest I've been in years! I can't wait to become a mom.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wscwIL2TWfT4PvJcCFAQiTBciKMR6LucXRwzetPIn5QJswTWMpYCA8DIzVzRW7W5DEcr63fenrZ5WXul61FpI0rKb6eB3gN7p6SL-dgdCqjNCOIsHpG-hRKTIuwfaoUNbIMKm6i8UXcW/s1600-h/Picture+or+Video+434.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0wscwIL2TWfT4PvJcCFAQiTBciKMR6LucXRwzetPIn5QJswTWMpYCA8DIzVzRW7W5DEcr63fenrZ5WXul61FpI0rKb6eB3gN7p6SL-dgdCqjNCOIsHpG-hRKTIuwfaoUNbIMKm6i8UXcW/s320/Picture+or+Video+434.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374327908807605538" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="clear: both;"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: border; -moz-background-origin: padding; -moz-background-inline-policy: continuous;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-65630590889874205322009-07-09T21:34:00.000-07:002009-07-09T23:10:07.703-07:00Nesting?I finally feel like a grown up, we have real nightstands, to go with the bed Marty built for us. Could this be nesting that I felt like I had to get nightstands before the baby arrives? We got a killer deal on them too. They're from Pottery Barn, not a scratch on them, off of Craigslist. A $700 pair of nightstands for $125. Can't beat that! And yes, that's a bear in our bed. He's keeping a place warm for our little boy. Oh and now that we have the nightstands I want to make an upholstered headboard to go with them. Have any of you read "If you give a mouse a cookie"? I'm totally the mouse.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTbPj11wkl7i9fOggv9UGzmwI7tUaj8gad0Ru82-gnjhrhh1b5H58DInWyccdXGeUBzTVPQvWSzJ_leArNxVGHVQiDfNzzeyD2QjuBrl6PAINg1JSauwx7GG8q84Gg7NakovuXxO4MrUX/s1600-h/bedroom+003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTbPj11wkl7i9fOggv9UGzmwI7tUaj8gad0Ru82-gnjhrhh1b5H58DInWyccdXGeUBzTVPQvWSzJ_leArNxVGHVQiDfNzzeyD2QjuBrl6PAINg1JSauwx7GG8q84Gg7NakovuXxO4MrUX/s320/bedroom+003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356689447202083890" border="0" /></a>Ok but seriously, can adoptive moms really get the nesting instinct? Or maybe I was just born with it? I'm a total home body, obessessed with doing projects around the house, as well as in the yard, cleaning, organizing, and of course having everything one could possibly need for a baby. None of which sounds irrational to me, though it may at times to Marty. I call it being prepared and productive. He'd probably call it obsessive and compulsive :o) I already have a drawer full of bottles, blankets, clothes, diapers, and I just acquired the Graco SweetPeace Soothing Center baby swing, and a Moby Wrap off of Craigslist for our little boy. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoLRDJmD_5uJwEHCs24rhzuNDnKHMYwxbCYW3q5iw06I9T8ot0Ok1krYlTodCUd6R_85bg56mK8XFFtx0yw4FtsniDbLS5Yt2-9Ac4tk1oEGKTLFIiuSFkVQDeeb6A_qdAR9TcIexMQXO/s1600-h/sweetpeace.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoLRDJmD_5uJwEHCs24rhzuNDnKHMYwxbCYW3q5iw06I9T8ot0Ok1krYlTodCUd6R_85bg56mK8XFFtx0yw4FtsniDbLS5Yt2-9Ac4tk1oEGKTLFIiuSFkVQDeeb6A_qdAR9TcIexMQXO/s320/sweetpeace.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356706490300310562" border="0" /></a> Of course I've been testing out the moby wrap with all the babies, so far they all love it.<br /><br />I'm thinking I should probably save somethings for a registry in case someone else wants to give something to this little guy besides me. I've started creating a registry at Baby's R' Us, though I'm also thinking about asking people to contribute to my dream rocking chair that I've found online. It's upholstered in microfiber, is a rocker, glider, and a recliner! Since I'm sure I'm not going to want to be cooped up in the nursery, as beautiful as it is, I want to put the chair in the big open area next to the wood stove so we can cuddle in front of the fire or admire the view out the french doors. I usually dread the winters here, but not this one!! I can't wait for this little boy to arrive. Marty and I will also get to celebrate our 4 year anniversary with the baby which will be the greatest gift ever! <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZpkqF2uAjJ2I8HYkAtTF8NO9XJA3ZqIf3lHtFsc0NSgyU56TUnXl9XtH2wj5GPrP-7s-ejXU3UUTMxlkjNWUDUxhAe8RbLXr4fEOYlgKWFTw2M6BYRL1Pd8ndWDo-oQCiYlFk-gkD1Ei/s1600-h/quilt+004.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoZpkqF2uAjJ2I8HYkAtTF8NO9XJA3ZqIf3lHtFsc0NSgyU56TUnXl9XtH2wj5GPrP-7s-ejXU3UUTMxlkjNWUDUxhAe8RbLXr4fEOYlgKWFTw2M6BYRL1Pd8ndWDo-oQCiYlFk-gkD1Ei/s320/quilt+004.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356692206096075602" border="0" /></a>Another beautiful addition to our nursery was a quilt made by my mother-in-law. I just love it!!! She hand quilted it. It's really adorable. We had our baby's parent's over last weekend for dinner and they loved it too. Our baby's mom makes kites. She was really impressed with the quilt as was the dad. They both are such wonderful people. They got to meet both mine and Marty's family. We had a good time. I also put up on the wall the quilt I had made a couple years ago for "our baby." It's not nearly as fancy as my mother-in-laws.<br /><img src="file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/mmickels/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-5.jpg" alt="" /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P7WkvLqg8fbJlZlNQ4TIJtK_n9KWMqtBBAfryuKYqolBoRuoiWZ82EEHAsyzAYTXMc4m1n0BbljIOAfNICK1rbNQv_wS0F31Q5b4PcD8VhyphenhyphenX4wO5KemaHHnMoYy2a-pKU_G2gle-Zq2D/s1600-h/quilt.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4P7WkvLqg8fbJlZlNQ4TIJtK_n9KWMqtBBAfryuKYqolBoRuoiWZ82EEHAsyzAYTXMc4m1n0BbljIOAfNICK1rbNQv_wS0F31Q5b4PcD8VhyphenhyphenX4wO5KemaHHnMoYy2a-pKU_G2gle-Zq2D/s320/quilt.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356703139126375874" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Dinner with family and friends<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK340rZcvsChS6TYoEvLKFOd8o_YXGhZsaZ1_5l4ho9W5Y0K_Jl_r8mRh1x26_-R6XAUiw329UiDdnovvRbkBvKOfFs6ux1SOX988QKOd0BGaDub9BvAk1AgP6XhI6GHek54YtAYeV0Wx/s1600-h/yard+066.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIK340rZcvsChS6TYoEvLKFOd8o_YXGhZsaZ1_5l4ho9W5Y0K_Jl_r8mRh1x26_-R6XAUiw329UiDdnovvRbkBvKOfFs6ux1SOX988QKOd0BGaDub9BvAk1AgP6XhI6GHek54YtAYeV0Wx/s320/yard+066.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356708622839029426" border="0" /></a>Stay tuned for Part 2 of Nesting... The great outdoors!<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Love you all, and congratulations to the new mama's out there. Your girls are beautiful, our son is going to be one lucky guy!</div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-82031229779401219212009-06-08T12:34:00.000-07:002009-06-08T12:35:19.410-07:00Guess who's having a baby?<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6kK-vtvokrR9qRXOOUtAqKFkSQvPgHSXuVWX1QplK9Q-75Uz3qGzgWukuYZlJK9xt4xTPiRMOloEipLHKroe1z0eBJQJUyK72UDHOLhaYoJLlu7iimRHXvaZAlFKQPxq_jKIIWvIicx_/s1600-h/Nursery+012.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH6kK-vtvokrR9qRXOOUtAqKFkSQvPgHSXuVWX1QplK9Q-75Uz3qGzgWukuYZlJK9xt4xTPiRMOloEipLHKroe1z0eBJQJUyK72UDHOLhaYoJLlu7iimRHXvaZAlFKQPxq_jKIIWvIicx_/s320/Nursery+012.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345031224597194226" border="0" /></a>Ok, well it is and isn't me. I'm having a baby, but not giving birth to a baby! Can you believe that!! It really is a miracle. The baby is due to arrive Sept 10th. It's a boy and we call him little ninja right now because he loves to kick his mommy's belly. <br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgJcsmroi53RAvUf3urBJe3lSg1yEUEbNtl42QbQnnpD7cX7WvxiRrNMv1cjUtZiwKPQOhpgT8PFl9hSENGD8-af7orrWz-ylicXQD_36Azi9fWtQ0zTv1YfvpzAbHCXrWMH0jWXF7Nt9/s1600-h/Nursery+018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgJcsmroi53RAvUf3urBJe3lSg1yEUEbNtl42QbQnnpD7cX7WvxiRrNMv1cjUtZiwKPQOhpgT8PFl9hSENGD8-af7orrWz-ylicXQD_36Azi9fWtQ0zTv1YfvpzAbHCXrWMH0jWXF7Nt9/s320/Nursery+018.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345031563633763746" border="0" /></a><div>Some of you may remember my post a month or so ago. I was really struggling, and feeling so sad and confused about why the Lord hadn't blessed me with children when all I've ever wanted was to be a mom. It had been so hard to see all my friends having babies, and not being able to experience the same joy. You all wrote incredibly sweet and encouraging things. I didn't really want to believe anything you all said, even though it was true. I just wanted to give up, and wondered if it ever would really happen. Well wouldn't you know, 2 days after I posted that blog, someone asked me if Marty and I had thought about adoption. I blurted out, yes!! He then went on to tell us that his daughter who isn't married was pregnant, and she was trying to decide whether to keep or adopt out the baby. While praying about it, she saw me and Marty's face. This isn't a woman we talk to or see on any sort of regular basis. She's a member of our church, though she lives in Seattle. Her dad has helped us out quite a bit (he helped us build our fence which is when he told us). It makes me tear up everytime I think about it, but he actually painted the nursery! I don't think it was just a coincidence. We had over 10 people helping us paint our house that day, but it was he that painted what I knew would be a nursery some day, with some help from Marty. Who would've known that his daughter would be giving us her baby for that nursery. As he told us the story about his daughter and the situation she was in and her desire to give this baby a mom and a dad, I just had this peaceful feeling, and understanding of why all the other options hadn't worked--the IVF, fostering, even a traditional adoption since we nearly maxed out the credit card with the yard. I knew that if she decided she wanted us to adopt the baby, we definatly would, and that the Lord really did have a plan all along, but was just waiting for the right time to unfold it to us. </div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhGZmq-ZzJB1lFn1LmiC0NwsTkC936xG5VJtbYSABpW9tHKkkOAXtoRAvtHizGc7-SF3PlAKOGgkhKDRGWYd1DaybiXMXcqW1nVlGehKpu95DeZUvExd2CC_9zG0VbPCGySk-Z0IxUGe6/s1600-h/Nursery+017.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijhGZmq-ZzJB1lFn1LmiC0NwsTkC936xG5VJtbYSABpW9tHKkkOAXtoRAvtHizGc7-SF3PlAKOGgkhKDRGWYd1DaybiXMXcqW1nVlGehKpu95DeZUvExd2CC_9zG0VbPCGySk-Z0IxUGe6/s320/Nursery+017.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345031906498936770" border="0" /></a>The birth mom keeps telling us how she too has found peace for the first time in 5 months, and that when she starts to doubt the spirit reassures her that this is the best thing for this little boy. She visited us a month ago and said she knows little ninja is going to have a great time being raised by us, playing in the yard, playing with the children in the preschool, etc. It's amazing how everything has just fallen into place. We loved this woman before, always had admired her and thought she was an incredibly smart, talented, and beautiful woman, but now I don't even have words to describe the love we have for her, the profound gratitude and appreciation for what she's doing and the choice she's made to carry this baby so that we can become parents. She is making a sacrifice I couldn't even dream of making. One that I will be eternally grateful for.<br /><br />A lawyer is working on the legal stuff, and a social worker is completing a home study for us required by the courts. Its amazing everything you have to fill out and have documented!<br />The birth mom asked if I would be her birth partner at the birth, and I said yes of course! She's giving birth at the same birthing center as I had wanted to give birth at. We're going to take a birthing class later this summer. I've never been at a birth before so this will be a new experience for me. We stay in close contact with her which is really nice. We just love her so much!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNBHAMuBlm4tM39mEMlWUNCLOy2BcXF1VTKmYsoPN9DXXIsSAlIKwSQ_WCMA5gMST9TaO2U63P4qCzwUGb2K1HZl0HGZH-pjitoZHp7SxC_zoSKqG_KXyY67u2QF8MQ2ihC1MqnPVhOeF/s1600-h/Nursery+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuNBHAMuBlm4tM39mEMlWUNCLOy2BcXF1VTKmYsoPN9DXXIsSAlIKwSQ_WCMA5gMST9TaO2U63P4qCzwUGb2K1HZl0HGZH-pjitoZHp7SxC_zoSKqG_KXyY67u2QF8MQ2ihC1MqnPVhOeF/s320/Nursery+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345032269777289858" border="0" /></a>My sister is going to plan a baby shower for us after the baby's born, and we know he's ours forever. Then everyone can get to meet the little guy as well. My mom was suppose to keep the adoption a secret, but hasn't done a very good job. The birth mom said she didn't mind who we told about the adoption, so I figured it would be safe to officially spill the beans. I'm so grateful that I was able to start my preschool/daycare before the arrival of this little boy and that I have 2 great assistants, my sister, and Ashlea to run things for a while after he's born. I'll be able to make a nice transition back to work, bringing him with him on my long commute down the stairs ;o) My youngest ones will be 16 months by then, and walking which will be nice, and I've already "reserved" a spot for the baby so that I won't be over capacity.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iB833ikNIWxsWM164MZEHEXLxo1Z_NCgIJ3eex8rsO827luVt7bDTgnpwxZMX4d8XUymKNSvdF3nSoDQO6GyQjK2677zsuBnAvCurHZUcMLtVTVArilFK2tUnuiHzpHxeJnw2_ZsavGC/s1600-h/House+pics+140.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336667477348898450" style="width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iB833ikNIWxsWM164MZEHEXLxo1Z_NCgIJ3eex8rsO827luVt7bDTgnpwxZMX4d8XUymKNSvdF3nSoDQO6GyQjK2677zsuBnAvCurHZUcMLtVTVArilFK2tUnuiHzpHxeJnw2_ZsavGC/s320/House+pics+140.jpg" border="0" /></a></div>I have all the clothes I'd EVER need for the first 6 months of this little boy's life (3 drawers full!). Gotta love craigslist! A lady I was buying cloth diapers from was getting rid of all these great little boy clothes. A huge lot for a great deal. I have most everything I need for the nursery, though I'd like to get some pictures for the walls. I love to just lay on the bed in this room, the baby blue walls and green accents make it so calming. Of course I had to add a few hints of lavender, just because I like it.<br /><br />Sorry this has been such a long post. Love you all! Thank you for your encouragement, prayers, and love! JennyMarty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-45338639958450020042009-05-16T21:56:00.000-07:002009-05-16T21:56:46.640-07:00It's looking green!Well the little baby grass is coming in. The ground is still pretty squishy though. I hope it firms up soon. I thought I'd test it out today and promptly sunk. Hopefully if it stays nice and stops raining around the clock so it can start drying out. We also got the gates in. Its so nice to have the kids contained and away from the driveway. Now its time to start staining. I got 1 gate stained this evening. It took forever, but it should look really nice when its all done. It's the same stain we used on the handrails. My mom liked the idea of our deer fence so much, that she's fencing her yard too, so we brought over the leftover posts and started on hers today. Now she's also putting in privacy fencing (the same stuff as ours) between her and the neighbors. Guess who's going to put that up? Well at least now we know what we're doing. She's going to have to find someone else to stain it though. Now I remember how much I hate staining. <br /><br />We also finally cleaned out our storage room, and put in a work bench, shelves, and hooks to organize the garage. It feels like a real garage now when you drive in, and it's so much easier to find the right tool. <br /><br />Not a very exciting post, especially with all the new little ones being born. Congratulations to all the new mothers and soon to be mothers!! <br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMd22tf2PfvjkoHpp9q0MLfprD8u4xVjpJpv81ZUlc4JO5pyMakL-hR9j2J9Rr861kUEaJk-pWytHnBhuuW6IRLHtWtINY7bKANr2ISw3NpboJPGPa0rouLF8jUPaCJehWX_eDOOaAeElY/s1600-h/House+pics+087.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMd22tf2PfvjkoHpp9q0MLfprD8u4xVjpJpv81ZUlc4JO5pyMakL-hR9j2J9Rr861kUEaJk-pWytHnBhuuW6IRLHtWtINY7bKANr2ISw3NpboJPGPa0rouLF8jUPaCJehWX_eDOOaAeElY/s320/House+pics+087.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDEkoDyoX0pXwp1ihjVwsFuRTvl2jYwCqS7HheY5s4tjruAwGLOP5j07Z6__5DvxqBeiajCCXGe_DkehzxmtKUf5PB9FHlNqKtqNwSCDReegnAVyIXTBIeX8nt0ePXThHYOVwBdDLEZF5/s1600-h/House+pics+104.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDEkoDyoX0pXwp1ihjVwsFuRTvl2jYwCqS7HheY5s4tjruAwGLOP5j07Z6__5DvxqBeiajCCXGe_DkehzxmtKUf5PB9FHlNqKtqNwSCDReegnAVyIXTBIeX8nt0ePXThHYOVwBdDLEZF5/s320/House+pics+104.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tb2mW7kmvLmJWvx4leo7iTEaSsN6jx9_jN5wqVS44zsMr3ALLP9p2tlMNhyA1CQN5BgGJ2-ujjkJO6M6OMpbAEv87bwFw-8L5Pjy9bLvuXVR_txwdwJjm3z83PcQhdjRGseqVhF8bF_7/s1600-h/House+pics+112.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8tb2mW7kmvLmJWvx4leo7iTEaSsN6jx9_jN5wqVS44zsMr3ALLP9p2tlMNhyA1CQN5BgGJ2-ujjkJO6M6OMpbAEv87bwFw-8L5Pjy9bLvuXVR_txwdwJjm3z83PcQhdjRGseqVhF8bF_7/s320/House+pics+112.jpg" border="0" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-8876898573062413872009-04-25T23:26:00.000-07:002009-04-26T00:29:58.580-07:00Finished yard!!Thanks gals for all your comments on my last blog. They really helped! When I start getting depressed I'm going to go back and reread them all. I'm glad I decided to write what was in my heart. Thank you for your love, confidence, well wishes, and for reminding me what I know to be true even though I forget it sometimes. I love you all so much!! Thank you!!<br /><br />Today I was going to build a fence (by myself). I don't know what I was thinking. Marty had been sick all night with food poisioning or the flu, so I didn't want to make him work, but I really wanted to get started on this fence. Mind you, I couldn't even lift these 6' long, 6' tall panels out of the truck, but I thought I could at least start digging the 2' deep holes for the posts, so off I went in search for a post hole digger. Luckily when I got back from picking up the post hole digger, Marty had called David Casperson (a neighbor from church) over to help unload the panels from the truck, and they both started helping me. Better yet, Marty called Ed Murphy, a contractor and friend from church to come over and help! Very smart thinking Marty!! I was going to try and build the fence from following an online tutorial (I'm not sure how it would've turned out, or if Marty and I would be speaking by the end of the fence). Strength, knowledge and experience is what we really needed, and Ed knew exactly how to do it. Then our friend Christian Beck showed up to help. He's done a lot of concrete work so he taught me how to do the concrete for the posts (which became my job), while the other guys had all those panels up in 2 hours!! It probably would've taken me that long to dig 2 holes! I tried it, it was hard!! Though I can mix some mighty fine concrete!! We still have a bit more to do, but the hard and heavy part is done. Now the whole yard will be fenced in and I can apply for my child care license (well after the grass grows, which it started doing, yay!!) I can't wait for summer-- games in the yard, BBQ's, kids running around in the grass, it's going to be a great. You're all welcome anytime, just make sure you bring your kids!! I don't want all the fun stuff going to waste. <br /><br />Here's some pictures of the work that's been happening the last couple weeks on the yard. Everything is finally done, now we just wait for the grass to grow! Greentree dozing, owned by Rick and Phil Middling, did all the work, and did an absolutely amazing job!! They brought in top soil for the entire yard to cover up our stinky clay soil, as well as hauled top soil all along the back and side of the house for my gardens, built the frame for the wood chips for the play structure, and went to Tacoma to get the chips, built a couple rock retaining walls, and raked and seeded the entire yard! No small feat. They hauled away a whole dump truck full of rocks!! Glad we hired them! We haven't got the bill yet, but it was WELL worth it! To finally have the yard done, and not have to look at those huge dirt piles or the mud pit that was our yard.<br /><div><div><div><div><div><br /><div>BEFORE (digging a trench to drain water away from where the play structure will go. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG68KU6XxFvmCDhLdxa4_kf4gyS2RRyhCRmGQp_IUq5bMmDrDDZQdjQ9pZrcQ5kQH8q6d6p7UO9JRMQV5IyIIfo7PGEw04BGqhRIkw_-XNdUq86sX6EBfIpTxUJMCOHEx2twCVg7EpQpXB/s1600-h/House+pics+012.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328883018094795474" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG68KU6XxFvmCDhLdxa4_kf4gyS2RRyhCRmGQp_IUq5bMmDrDDZQdjQ9pZrcQ5kQH8q6d6p7UO9JRMQV5IyIIfo7PGEw04BGqhRIkw_-XNdUq86sX6EBfIpTxUJMCOHEx2twCVg7EpQpXB/s320/House+pics+012.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div></div><div>AFTER (The beautiful new play area! Its so nice to have a mud-free and safe place for the kids to play outside.)</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsxHgXBmTbz06bySShH1TIUG2eatjlStJ6N9BND6x2ziQ5Oi_IrYcd9kq467LrU2AGbAfJp8g2dYwIn0GO4POmRD_7U7QBV9vApCkH3tEZVmjQ1QotQA7Mxa346isuikydm2VRlg5ANpB/s1600-h/House+pics+089.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328883201481076674" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzsxHgXBmTbz06bySShH1TIUG2eatjlStJ6N9BND6x2ziQ5Oi_IrYcd9kq467LrU2AGbAfJp8g2dYwIn0GO4POmRD_7U7QBV9vApCkH3tEZVmjQ1QotQA7Mxa346isuikydm2VRlg5ANpB/s320/House+pics+089.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>BEFORE (Rick, Phil, and Mitchel bring in the soil, and rake out the rocks)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJrEgibFbC_vojRonGLJvsR4ETEy0J3Wh0aCt05uWYC0J1cuEJAENsH_m4ex3rczVedMdap7ZolFhyUBRtLQSUoh6icHlJAWRcnERNPfLC-CdDOc37MbmF1Nor1EDfTFrkR-Ex_Of7lSg/s1600-h/House+pics+020.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328883661825923922" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJrEgibFbC_vojRonGLJvsR4ETEy0J3Wh0aCt05uWYC0J1cuEJAENsH_m4ex3rczVedMdap7ZolFhyUBRtLQSUoh6icHlJAWRcnERNPfLC-CdDOc37MbmF1Nor1EDfTFrkR-Ex_Of7lSg/s320/House+pics+020.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><br />AFTER (back yard seeded, my Azaela/Rhodedendron slope behind our house, and cut out in the slope at the far end to stack fire wood.)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGvn15u9cROVUkVBqgxj1Az44rKIqYrwmH2xzUEwhMszeRfPKgoTY4cXYqyIXOjuvHRuhyphenhyphenkh0lTFlJAbzmnAzf6JSlK3JshCoeBNUA7lzOYKN8258oUbzaVxldpodKmOYB7OMjArIBTqA/s1600-h/House+pics+091.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328884021850683938" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyGvn15u9cROVUkVBqgxj1Az44rKIqYrwmH2xzUEwhMszeRfPKgoTY4cXYqyIXOjuvHRuhyphenhyphenkh0lTFlJAbzmnAzf6JSlK3JshCoeBNUA7lzOYKN8258oUbzaVxldpodKmOYB7OMjArIBTqA/s320/House+pics+091.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div><br />BEFORE (Side yard/dump truck delivering load after load (for 2 days) of good soil to cover up our crummy soil)</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaruhBafgVvh3F9FIMDw_SoNR9XHVNUMEZvo47rnylGc5rcg9SoHJ0EsWrEHRs8qARDPaJIaxbWTDc1IjFQqfxf4JE4q2xhGAeszdF9MhebsMbYLnd2uv_7dY-5VCAlWYi76KbDI3DCzjh/s1600-h/House+pics+015.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328884368635318114" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaruhBafgVvh3F9FIMDw_SoNR9XHVNUMEZvo47rnylGc5rcg9SoHJ0EsWrEHRs8qARDPaJIaxbWTDc1IjFQqfxf4JE4q2xhGAeszdF9MhebsMbYLnd2uv_7dY-5VCAlWYi76KbDI3DCzjh/s320/House+pics+015.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />AFTER (Drainfield/sloped yard all smooth, with our patch of grass we planted in October.) Marty also enclosed 5 fruit trees on this side of the yard with deer fence.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9a6k2CBk7o6o4eZ8-qr-umjqM6C5j24SI7ykHhK3auxxQCRZJpDX-lq0RG9iV1DtR2dKBo3Qoe0JOYLXNDc937_XfjgIZOYgd5sFTTAm19nOVGSj6n7yLn3x-agmvM1l1YXZtnWOCKY5_/s1600-h/House+pics+099.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328884567618571058" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9a6k2CBk7o6o4eZ8-qr-umjqM6C5j24SI7ykHhK3auxxQCRZJpDX-lq0RG9iV1DtR2dKBo3Qoe0JOYLXNDc937_XfjgIZOYgd5sFTTAm19nOVGSj6n7yLn3x-agmvM1l1YXZtnWOCKY5_/s320/House+pics+099.jpg" border="0" /></a> </div></div><div></div><div>Main yard--open area for badmittion or other games, wood chip area in the distance for a picnic table and fire pit, can't see it but this whole yard is surrounded with 8' deer fence. <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrjG6i4zkNi4HPJVDzx2TR38tgt_C-ngpJnsFVMmJmWlEnF42dY0aiwuiP1czoHTdiPiSOH7Gu-Ezuhrg3nLQpR_3jAxEVhF9B2RoF98A4UVuBkeir6SJUTWPbAKyag-lEdJxdbxvJKZG/s1600-h/House+pics+094.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328887827479367586" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFrjG6i4zkNi4HPJVDzx2TR38tgt_C-ngpJnsFVMmJmWlEnF42dY0aiwuiP1czoHTdiPiSOH7Gu-Ezuhrg3nLQpR_3jAxEVhF9B2RoF98A4UVuBkeir6SJUTWPbAKyag-lEdJxdbxvJKZG/s320/House+pics+094.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><div></div><div>View of the house/play structure from upper part of yard. It will be really nice when the grass grows in. In front of the deck, we brought in good gardening soil for vegi's, and we have a few fruit treese planted near the play structure. </div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw228CooctToHQfy7Src5aoj-vZ0xvdL4gL7Fx3LR67ybHUdgZNWwYwRKw-hySzImVQ_oebnyT2H18Tn3pVZTeKtGjKGyoMJusHF2JeDLHhMZJ37NWdMe2rgkJ2J_DgswvqjNdgJs90AQo/s1600-h/House+pics+092.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328888263011903826" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw228CooctToHQfy7Src5aoj-vZ0xvdL4gL7Fx3LR67ybHUdgZNWwYwRKw-hySzImVQ_oebnyT2H18Tn3pVZTeKtGjKGyoMJusHF2JeDLHhMZJ37NWdMe2rgkJ2J_DgswvqjNdgJs90AQo/s320/House+pics+092.jpg" border="0" /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-77556613317184462412009-04-23T22:34:00.001-07:002009-04-23T23:39:42.952-07:00It's been a whileIts been a long time since I've been to blogger. I just haven't been strong enough. Sounds funny, huh. How strong do you have to be to sign in to Blogger? All my friend's blogs are about their beautiful babies and healthy pregnancies, and after struggling and struggling to get pregnant or stay pregnant, its just been too hard to witness. I think about my friends all the time. I want to see them. I pray for their little ones. But something about seeing their pictures, and reading their words it just gets me choked up every time. I care for kids and babies everyday, it doesn't seem like it should be so hard, but it feels different when its your friend's having babies. You feel so left out. Like the last one chosen for the softball team that all your friends are playing on, or worse yet, not being chosen at all. Its hard to explain. I go to bed in tears every time. So I stay away, and try not to think about how much fun they're having and all the wonderful, and sometimes not so wonderful experiences they are having. But then I feel guilty. I think, what kind of friend am I? I should see how so and so is doing. I just wish I knew why I can't have what I desire more than anything in this world, a baby! It doesn't help when doctors can't find anything wrong and tell you after 3 years, and 2 failed IVF cycles that you just have "bad luck," and that its not your fault and you can't do anything about it. Why can't I just have a little good luck?<br /><br />So since I can't have babies, I care for them, I build big expensive play areas for them, I go through a million child care licensing hoops to provide quality, licensed care for Vashon's under and over 2 years old population. (If I watch children under 2 1/2 I have to have a license, so that's what I'm doing, because there's nothing else out there for these families.) I plant gardens and trees, I buy materials for my preschool, and all the while trying not to think about how I'm going to handle another failed IVF cycle if it happens again. My hopes of doing foster care were dashed when I found out the state wouldn't license us for Foster care if we were licensed for in home childcare. But since I can't afford not to work, and what the island needs is childcare, especially for children younger than 2 1/2, I have to get licensed. Adoption would be the next step, but with no money, and soon to be quite in debt because of all the recent work on finishing the yard, and trying to meet all the childcare licensing requirements (including a fence around out whole yard, well about 375' of it at least and of course having a yard for kids to play in, which meant bringing in load after load of soil to cover ALL of crappy clayish soil, leveling it out, then planting seed), there isn't anything left for us to be able to "buy" our children. That just doesn't seem right that those that can't have kids, after spending, some of them $50,000 (~3 IVF cycles) or more on Infertility treatment, then have to spend $20-40,000 on adoption! Who has $90,000 to just shell out for a baby? Not me. Through Fostering, at least adopting would've been free.<br /><br />But I can't complain too much because at least our insurance covers 90% of our fertility treatment, at least up to $25,000 (lifetime maximum). You can see that that will only go so far though. Too bad it doesn't compensate you for the emotional distress that it causes, and I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't work next time. I know I'll persevere somehow, but right now I can't even think about it. Well this has been the most depressing post I've ever written. I wish this could be one of those anonymous posts, but I just felt like writing, and getting how I was feeling out there. I don't even mind if no one reads it, it was more for me I guess than anyone else. At least I've stopped crying now. I also just wanted to apologize to all my friends for not reading and commenting on their posts and to explain why. You're my friends, so I know you understand, but I just had to say sorry anyway. Well I better get to bed, I've got 2 one year olds, a two and 1/2 year old, and 2 four year olds coming tomorrow (this is my easy day :o), but still I'll need my energy.<br />Love you all!! Jenny<br /><br />I'll try to take some pictures of the yard and everything, and post them later.Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-47136948710028380382009-03-02T09:37:00.000-08:002009-03-02T10:22:32.166-08:00Plants, plants, plants!!On Valentines Day, Marty and I spent the day buying and planting plants for the front of our house. It was sooo romantic. Ok, well maybe romantic isn't the word, but it was so much fun. I was just in heaven! I was so happy to have my hands in the dirt, and beautifying the exterior of our house, which up until then was just dirt EVERYWHERE! We hired some people to level out the dirt piles, and make the yard bigger and flatter by pulling down the slopes, however as they were working it started snowing! After an inch and half they finally had to quit (Feb 11th) and haven't been back since :o( The ground is just too wet to work in. We have to bring loads and loads of top soil in to cover the whole yard as the soil is so clayish. urgh! But at least we'll have nice looking gardens and a nice looking lawn (when the ground finally dries out!)<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAFzq71BuBqAKsq7mdJBApspw1tBnSPxGMrg7MTA2RNPvT9mT649C9h_1WOlJNQOxbxK0XbEgNGcB-n2V1yweGwZHq2NtdaCtD9aIvdKsob6X0Z9bWiG6wEeqEkGQlLwk3WqXVY1Ejo12/s1600-h/love+and+laughter+022.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308647201523204738" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAFzq71BuBqAKsq7mdJBApspw1tBnSPxGMrg7MTA2RNPvT9mT649C9h_1WOlJNQOxbxK0XbEgNGcB-n2V1yweGwZHq2NtdaCtD9aIvdKsob6X0Z9bWiG6wEeqEkGQlLwk3WqXVY1Ejo12/s320/love+and+laughter+022.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihehhfG2y3CglHFzvCD_Sxt9Bth6PITq9TfGpKq6ddirrPJ1SCBSFUHaEWVC2CtXRJguEU4UaX-3gmN_8Lz7dfWzggoJHJXfSjtobedpDvdq_iV6Jxd7K__XhzhAVxAZAk2IjWxjZbc0b7/s1600-h/love+and+laughter+126.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308647182734442354" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihehhfG2y3CglHFzvCD_Sxt9Bth6PITq9TfGpKq6ddirrPJ1SCBSFUHaEWVC2CtXRJguEU4UaX-3gmN_8Lz7dfWzggoJHJXfSjtobedpDvdq_iV6Jxd7K__XhzhAVxAZAk2IjWxjZbc0b7/s320/love+and+laughter+126.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />We were able to finish things up around the house though, adding another parking spot near the stairs, and plants along the house--mostly Heleboures, and Euphorbia, in all different colors and varieties. They are easy to grow, and deer resistent! They cost us an arm and a leg, but they makes me happy to see them, every time I pull up to the house, so I guess its worth it.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoM6qk6jNndpXU8QlGKxG_1T3vuZ0KEmzS8lN8Sj7KpladIA1jGrtg4ivujunRQAqurPkan7wG7D3Xf1XNlgfX0oR_QreEfXkyCQd6NNZ9fL-CJZCD_w-Bco-d0w6LRGGgRzXobcODf_uG/s1600-h/love+and+laughter+082.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308647191811880066" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoM6qk6jNndpXU8QlGKxG_1T3vuZ0KEmzS8lN8Sj7KpladIA1jGrtg4ivujunRQAqurPkan7wG7D3Xf1XNlgfX0oR_QreEfXkyCQd6NNZ9fL-CJZCD_w-Bco-d0w6LRGGgRzXobcODf_uG/s320/love+and+laughter+082.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinAFzq71BuBqAKsq7mdJBApspw1tBnSPxGMrg7MTA2RNPvT9mT649C9h_1WOlJNQOxbxK0XbEgNGcB-n2V1yweGwZHq2NtdaCtD9aIvdKsob6X0Z9bWiG6wEeqEkGQlLwk3WqXVY1Ejo12/s1600-h/love+and+laughter+022.jpg"></a><br />Last weekend we also bought 8 fruit trees (pear, cherry's, peach, apples, and a plum) and a lilac tree and planted them around the outskirts of the yard (where the machines wouldn't be working), and then I filled up my car at Home Depot on Monday with lots of Azaela's (I could buy 5 Azaelas for the price of 1 Helleboure!), Rhodedendrons, a Magnolia tree, and Daphnes. The man that helped me load them in my car, couldn't believe they'd all fit, but then he doesn't know my mad packing/organizing skills I pick up from living in a 350 sq ft cabin with my husband and chocolate lab!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNcP4uqsfCzYj8am43V51Fu4kOClubxT6nlT-uclc26gibNZGoTvI_t7HiZl2S8w4C8YOaF5Wgr3l1oi-a0WsmapTHnd4Ea2fB5cC2tAWtEdkpThUAqIUF8-57lOBn6xuIW6Ph_NiAsPM/s1600-h/love+and+laughter+020.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308647202691708962" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguNcP4uqsfCzYj8am43V51Fu4kOClubxT6nlT-uclc26gibNZGoTvI_t7HiZl2S8w4C8YOaF5Wgr3l1oi-a0WsmapTHnd4Ea2fB5cC2tAWtEdkpThUAqIUF8-57lOBn6xuIW6Ph_NiAsPM/s320/love+and+laughter+020.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Then yesterday we drove up to Marysville with 2 trucks and picked up a play structure we found on Craigslist. Wish I had taken a picture of it loaded in the trucks. We tried to keep it put together as much as possible, we kept the playhouse/fort piece all together (needless to say we had to pay an overheight charge for the ferry). As soon as the soil dries out we'll put woodchips down and set it up. I'm sure the preschool children are going to love it! Of course since we had a truck, I couldn't pass up the chance to pick up more plants, so we got yet more Azaela's and Rhodedendrons, as well as a white Camila. Can't wait to get out and plant everything!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFdJuXy0UDQw6Go1sXPZLAJ0SlJUb0JT-OI1neh9hsN2d9vO-fmbPrTvkgovdzv4F915te8_UTG0LDf7nC0I389-e1PYjCN0314JhiXXswhWgFtj6maFx9irSoa4NlK1wVaWeovjGrxbb/s1600-h/aspen_main.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308652950396612818" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFdJuXy0UDQw6Go1sXPZLAJ0SlJUb0JT-OI1neh9hsN2d9vO-fmbPrTvkgovdzv4F915te8_UTG0LDf7nC0I389-e1PYjCN0314JhiXXswhWgFtj6maFx9irSoa4NlK1wVaWeovjGrxbb/s320/aspen_main.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Well that's all I have for now. Will add more pictures when I get all my plants in the ground. Hope everyone is doing well. Love you all! --JennyMarty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-82302699730114519512009-01-24T22:03:00.000-08:002009-01-24T22:37:22.502-08:00Love and Laughter<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXh5Vk986fLgDrsX3YS-PrcB0jFTMYcBv3EGfDXuBdOf1TIAmygnIPaXErOsyTqed9IEgIfAtarwTSIlpcaGnFIGTPHivGAEtEhJOe4pomxQbDCpeWyTAWgxIHlqmcGhH0Eiu7cspz5Dp/s1600-h/December+2008+and+January+2009+050.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoXh5Vk986fLgDrsX3YS-PrcB0jFTMYcBv3EGfDXuBdOf1TIAmygnIPaXErOsyTqed9IEgIfAtarwTSIlpcaGnFIGTPHivGAEtEhJOe4pomxQbDCpeWyTAWgxIHlqmcGhH0Eiu7cspz5Dp/s320/December+2008+and+January+2009+050.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />A few weeks ago I found out that my employers were cutting back my hours and had no new work coming in, which meant they would no longer be needing me at all after a couple more months. The day she told me, all I wanted to do was cry. I knew of at least 3 other nanny's looking for work, and was a little worried I'd be out of a job for a while. I didn't know how we were going to pay our mortgage and keep our new beautiful home. In a week I had a new plan though--to open up a much needed--Drop-in Preschool on the island (something parent's have been begging for). A safe, loving place parents could take their children on an as needed basis when they have a Dr's appointment, need to run some errands, want to go to the gym, get things done around the house, or have a flexible work schedule and paying for a spot in a day-care doesn't make sense.<br /><br />Parent's have been loving the idea, the children are loving the space, and I'm loving working at home. Each child that's come to visit has felt right at home. The children have ranged from 10 months-5 years. It's been so much fun! Last week was the first week I started watching children in the space, and it went great! This week I have more families signed up, and I'm sure as the word get's out, I'll have enough work that I won't have to worry about paying our mortgage. Right now I'm still taking care of my nanny family, but just watch them over at my house, that way when they no longer need me, I can make a smooth transition as my clientel builds. I'm not a big fan of change, but I think this change is going to be really good. I should be able to earn more money, while also getting to work from home, which will be fantastic when I do have a baby.<br /><br />I pretty much worked non-stop on the classroom for a week--setting it up, buying toys and materials, making lables & signs, etc. Then I spent the last week building a website for the preschool. Marty got me started, but I was pretty much able to do everything myself, which was awesome. I've put in quite a few long nights, but I'm feeling really good about everything right now. If you want to see my website it's: <a href="http://www.loveandlaughterpreschool.com/">http://www.loveandlaughterpreschool.com/</a><br /><br />Marty has been very supportive of my new business venture, while also doing some of his own web design work on the side. He's slowly getting used to his new position at Adobe, and we're so grateful he wasn't part of the 600 who were laid off last month.<br /><br />We had a great Christmas and winter break. We had the best time just hanging out with our family and friends--talking, playing games, eating yummy food, etc. We love you all so much!!<br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="288" height="192" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fmartyandjenny%2Falbumid%2F5295115234850315329%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /><br /><div style="CLEAR: both"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-50162983021107916342008-12-14T17:46:00.000-08:002008-12-14T17:55:31.327-08:00Last night we had our first snow storm. It was awesome! Then today the house was so bright with all the snow outside. It was beautiful. I took these pictures this morning. Hope everyone got to see snow and is safe and sound! Marty slid off the road turning onto our street. My sister was at the intersection and saw the whole thing and was totally impressed by his calmness and the way he avoided a telephone pole, and just got back on the road. She was ready to pull him out of a ditch if need be, but luckily that didn't happen! Tis' the season! Much love to you all! <br /><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/martyandjenny/Dec08#"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4ESlcHhdMgY/SUW15RoBN9E/AAAAAAAAB6A/EJTlTZKPA-Y/s160-c/Dec08.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/martyandjenny/Dec08#" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Dec '08</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-71622693477846524522008-12-06T13:23:00.000-08:002008-12-06T13:49:54.084-08:00House warming party a success!Ok, so I cannot believe that we didn't get get a single picture of this great event last night! Marty and I were giving tours all night to nearly 50 people (adults and children). I didn't get to taste any of the food till nearly 9:00pm when just a few guests remained. We stayed up till 12:30 am playing speed scrabble with a few friends. It was such a fun evening. People slowly trickled in and then the whole house was bustling with people. Marty said he looked into the kitchen, and it looked like everyone had migrated into it. Others sat on the sofas watching the slideshow of our house being built, while a couple people cozied up in the family room chatting in the comfy arm chairs. The basement was a hit with the kids, especially the pool table, which we had to put the cover on, because someone's fingers were going to get smashed. I had brought all the toys down there too, so they did bowling, built a huge train track, stacked legos, played with beanie babies, and had a great time. We figured out that there were 14 children and 34 adults that passed through our home last night. People were really wowed, awe strucked and amazed. We also recieved some nice house plants--a poinsetta and a Christmas cactus, some gift certificates to local nurseries, a great plaque/sign, candle holder, and even a fig tree! We had a blast, and hope that those who attended did too. We look forward to having just a family over at a time though so we can visit more and play more games :o) Oh and you can't miss our house now-- I lined the driveway with alternating strands of blue and green lights. I really am turning into my mother. I'm still debating about whether to keep them up year round though, like she does :o) <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_gllxLFheKzkfp4dpyzIaF30nLyrXoZ-WrbSpiRN9ZY1ASyy19XueFCyVTZWV0R6apsbd806DePw-uDy7GZp7xAElYVF8t-iFkV4CkVc3HRSVMxbvkaReN-oQ1doD5rT_Pd6Y7nS-YGs/s1600-h/IMG_8774.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg_gllxLFheKzkfp4dpyzIaF30nLyrXoZ-WrbSpiRN9ZY1ASyy19XueFCyVTZWV0R6apsbd806DePw-uDy7GZp7xAElYVF8t-iFkV4CkVc3HRSVMxbvkaReN-oQ1doD5rT_Pd6Y7nS-YGs/s320/IMG_8774.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276796880641058226" border="0" /></a><br />The sign from Hailey and Claudia, put up immediately on a nail I already had up in the basement over our mini Christmas display. I just love this saying!!Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-44109514928933600322008-11-30T19:51:00.000-08:002008-11-30T19:51:36.895-08:00Our first thanksgiving in the new houseThere's nothing I love more than food and family, which is why I love Thanksgiving so much! The new kitchen is a dream to cook in, and the open floor plan made it so easy to talk to people from the kitchen. My mom, sister, brother, and our friend Mandi came over to celebrate. Of course we ate too much, but that's part of the beauty of this holiday. Then there's leftovers for a week which I love even more. I made a turkey and stuffing casserole tonight, mmm. We also played a good game of Cranium, and danced in the family room. Coco can really bust a move. I'm so grateful at this time of year to refelect on my blessings, and to express gratitude for all I've been blessed with. I love my family so much and am so grateful to have them so close. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdtBIqmlgUI-nUSjY6qbQoViyYPyy-AtWqUtS4lAzCXMhnLytjnvPAMYs0sJWFvqBxnNmZZzCSQHgQLqHCnE1PcWUAYjr3iNNSSHJEvto2bzQIXCazVMC7imWI-Pc4tWuJo2X_QrqiiC3/s1600-h/IMG_8739.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdtBIqmlgUI-nUSjY6qbQoViyYPyy-AtWqUtS4lAzCXMhnLytjnvPAMYs0sJWFvqBxnNmZZzCSQHgQLqHCnE1PcWUAYjr3iNNSSHJEvto2bzQIXCazVMC7imWI-Pc4tWuJo2X_QrqiiC3/s320/IMG_8739.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHreqKH2gHBlg7Nn2XYeUr8HQf4sdSC7t8TBz6s1BiZnoKQ3eiQPV9PazMKmfV2cnTBgudMyBiaNHFkvQ1ZenHj-RYsenwWOeRi8vlkprPvzY5CDQqWcJYgQHI3HoKL638YdpGM9FqBOv/s1600-h/IMG_8747.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHreqKH2gHBlg7Nn2XYeUr8HQf4sdSC7t8TBz6s1BiZnoKQ3eiQPV9PazMKmfV2cnTBgudMyBiaNHFkvQ1ZenHj-RYsenwWOeRi8vlkprPvzY5CDQqWcJYgQHI3HoKL638YdpGM9FqBOv/s320/IMG_8747.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mtvLDq6KSPuwSmzda1bMF3iGIWSEvfyvl1OdBJczJOS8QTksOInV9rcP5vHHS9g_djgOgnsQEBX9Ga4f70rd0zlpPfVunq3oPd-KeudUjRZ1EtAKXTbkh0s0tvTQ0djcyAmC9pXDVlkG/s1600-h/IMG_8756.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mtvLDq6KSPuwSmzda1bMF3iGIWSEvfyvl1OdBJczJOS8QTksOInV9rcP5vHHS9g_djgOgnsQEBX9Ga4f70rd0zlpPfVunq3oPd-KeudUjRZ1EtAKXTbkh0s0tvTQ0djcyAmC9pXDVlkG/s320/IMG_8756.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMqemlhHpbStGZ2-56t4hwecD3KFNrA1zDoRVIWhSy2VxtFp1dSGWhlWYPBx4UMfxgiq7r6g7m71IGgyeBFg3QcYk77nGAbqyr0IzcW5to_8Dt_vbfLu2gjmPaBnIuUOUwcnb5g1ASWHw/s1600-h/IMG_8757.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAMqemlhHpbStGZ2-56t4hwecD3KFNrA1zDoRVIWhSy2VxtFp1dSGWhlWYPBx4UMfxgiq7r6g7m71IGgyeBFg3QcYk77nGAbqyr0IzcW5to_8Dt_vbfLu2gjmPaBnIuUOUwcnb5g1ASWHw/s320/IMG_8757.jpg" border="0" /></a><div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-90729241034543941012008-11-25T09:38:00.000-08:002008-11-25T09:49:59.741-08:00Basement up and runningOur friend, Christian Beck who helped Marty put in the laminate flooring in the basement, gave us a pool table that someone had given to him, so now we have a working game room! The two of them spent 4 hours playing last night. Some other friends have an air hockey table that they plan to give us when they get tired of it. Now all we need is the flat screen TV and surround sound speakers and we never have to leave the house again! :o) Our dream of having a game room in the basement is coming true a lot sooner than we thought. I'm so glad we decided to finish the basement! Marty also enjoys coming down to work in the mornings. Can't wait for our house warming party next week (Friday Dec 5th 6:30 pm). Hope to see you all there! <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgslkzpI6W0J3scOwHgbtg1x2y512P1IdwSBpYBVn4u4-S8nqLKBPhHLMcyUlVjgJjORqJJNoXbcJ2hlhvZKETjoHs9pTbXncEYmE07R8HnWSuTILrcq2Q2jPZm_ojOsNHtXsvMBRxeCp0r/s1600-h/IMG_8727-2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272651866520571218" style="WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 294px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgslkzpI6W0J3scOwHgbtg1x2y512P1IdwSBpYBVn4u4-S8nqLKBPhHLMcyUlVjgJjORqJJNoXbcJ2hlhvZKETjoHs9pTbXncEYmE07R8HnWSuTILrcq2Q2jPZm_ojOsNHtXsvMBRxeCp0r/s320/IMG_8727-2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Christian chillin' in the game room<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf99pkjpE1aQkfP08SZzKZjC3a22LOkRLrOlraoRy5q2eY0PuwiFSkr-_RjbROTYciI-oQn8X8PvfG4GVVtGQDNNv-4l1HhrnDdcwCXZkJixei5orFgxrBGFE_rg4MZ6ivk6fc8Nc-NEj/s1600-h/IMG_8730.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmf99pkjpE1aQkfP08SZzKZjC3a22LOkRLrOlraoRy5q2eY0PuwiFSkr-_RjbROTYciI-oQn8X8PvfG4GVVtGQDNNv-4l1HhrnDdcwCXZkJixei5orFgxrBGFE_rg4MZ6ivk6fc8Nc-NEj/s320/IMG_8730.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Guy playing pool with a short stick<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1DylnOYQKvlN586irLao_ukZMloK0DfA02J64yXaC8z9VY0j0ysj7ed-HNPv1ZqSaJHXz6pFYEBQWiYKHLTUAiK9rPJhrkNv_UAZAtGee1BsNx8-Fb7s08LAa5EiQJT-YpK_fLfSzz77F/s1600-h/IMG_8732.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1DylnOYQKvlN586irLao_ukZMloK0DfA02J64yXaC8z9VY0j0ysj7ed-HNPv1ZqSaJHXz6pFYEBQWiYKHLTUAiK9rPJhrkNv_UAZAtGee1BsNx8-Fb7s08LAa5EiQJT-YpK_fLfSzz77F/s320/IMG_8732.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Marty hard at work<br /><div style="CLEAR: both"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 0px; BACKGROUND: 0% 50%; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; moz-background-clip: initial; moz-background-origin: initial; moz-background-inline-policy: initial" alt="Posted by Picasa" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4751765444057365440.post-14514098032487518182008-11-11T19:54:00.000-08:002008-11-11T19:54:44.071-08:00Laminate flooring goes in<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjarCXR9Iry1KWLofAzST_YMFCizmXFibO4kHaBZEbnAGIhuOIvV5b5rUdMy2ETqmEG1LFfXqaf9fnTSyuVYVZfBJ9xeU4F25LEq6WFQ5UAlzS6Ft-dN3vYs2jRuik-svsIwUGm3Vogncis/s1600-h/IMG_8709.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjarCXR9Iry1KWLofAzST_YMFCizmXFibO4kHaBZEbnAGIhuOIvV5b5rUdMy2ETqmEG1LFfXqaf9fnTSyuVYVZfBJ9xeU4F25LEq6WFQ5UAlzS6Ft-dN3vYs2jRuik-svsIwUGm3Vogncis/s320/IMG_8709.jpg" border="0" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH61oxNDW1Y9owxh-gHfkTJ8yvYjFiWZ50yBPBBXsBE5Hi7qDmRW3TPbxt3I5vZliH2RBYL1lbQEt1f_UyX6LEAj1jR_2UD9NMpKl6he2hvo0zXvNyeNjGvRYOCsCLReMxNoUfrOBo8txZ/s1600-h/IMG_8713.jpg"><img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH61oxNDW1Y9owxh-gHfkTJ8yvYjFiWZ50yBPBBXsBE5Hi7qDmRW3TPbxt3I5vZliH2RBYL1lbQEt1f_UyX6LEAj1jR_2UD9NMpKl6he2hvo0zXvNyeNjGvRYOCsCLReMxNoUfrOBo8txZ/s320/IMG_8713.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /> Coco now has no safe place except for the laundry room where she doesn't slip and slide all over the place when overly excited. Marty and our friend Christian Beck started laying the laminate flooring last night after work, and I think they'll be finished tonight. Of course Coco had to supervise to make sure they were doing it right, because how could I tell? I'm positive it would've taken at least twice as long if Marty and I were doing it by ourselves. Christian helps his dad install wood floors so he's got considerably more experience, plus the right kinds of saws! We'd like to have our house warming party in a couple weeks but wanted to see if we could get this floor finished first. We still have to paint the trim in the basement, but we might be able to get that done before the party too, we'll see.<div style='clear:both; text-align:NONE'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div>Marty and Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10638505837563883335noreply@blogger.com8