What We Do....Allie and Family

Announcing Baby Reveley #3

2012-01-03T08:52:00.000-08:00

The Reveley Family is happy to announce that #3 is on the way! We were shocked to find out ourselves, but now very excited to share the news.
Some of your questions answered:
Due Date: July 10, 2012
How far along am I: 13 weeks today
How have I been feeling?: EXTREMELY tired, fatigued, and yucky the first 10 - 11 weeks. now, i'm doing much better, but not 100%, especially after getting the flu on New Years Day. I pretty much have been teh same as the other two pregnancies and started the same weight for all three of these.
Are we finding out?: YES, we actually are! We'll find out around valentine's day and after a fun Gender Revel party, we'll let the rest of the world know. We are excited to find out because there is so much to do if it is a girl. If it is a boy we need to pick the perfect name!!!!
What do the Big Brothers think: Shep - no response! haah, he'll only be 21 months when baby 3 arrives, but we think he'll adjust ok. Caedmon - VERY EXCITED! even before we told him I was pregnant he was asking me to have another baby, " a girl this time!" Now he's very excited. he rubs my belly and called that baby, his "little seamonkey" yesterday. Very cute. He said if it is a girl it should be named Madeline and if it is a boy it should be named "Johnson". He's very creative and funny about this one and very interested. After seeing the video of the ultrasound he was even more excited and can't wait to have another one.
So, we're on this journey again and very excited! Life is good and we are blessed. God knows what we can handle and he's gracious to gift another life into our hands. Ryan and I are so excited to see how our family is going to grow this year! HAPPY NEW YEAR, more to come!

DaRosa Family and Twins First Birthday

2011-10-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

Maternity - The "O" Family

2011-10-08T18:58:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of photographing Heidi and Mike's wedding with Laura Wagner Photography July 2010. They are an adorable couple who could not wait to have a baby! Now, pregnant with their little bundle of joy I was able to meet up with their sweet family and take some maternity photos. CONGRATS, Logan is going to be one lucky boy when he arrives this Nov. :)

The R family and Twins :)

2011-10-08T18:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted on my blog, but this is definitely Blog-worthy! A 80 degree day in October and a beautiful family to photograph!
Enjoy the adorable twins and super gorgeous parents! We met in Littleton's Fay Park for these memorable moments.

too busy - hurry sickness

2011-04-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

i have a disease - "hurry sickness" its called. i'm too busy, i'm trying to be too busy, and i need a break. i have so many good intentions *like this blog, but they never all come together in perfect peace and unity.
so, i'm taking a break of a LOT of things...

i'm learning to pre-prioritize. i'm not even going to say YES to something that isn't the most important things:
God
Ryan
Boys
Food
myself/health

:)

here are my beautiful boys, see you soon!

little miss clary jane

2011-03-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

my best friend's little girl - miss clary jane. she's a beauty. when we were in florida i had the pleasure of photographing her adorable face in the cutest outfit ever - purchsed by your's truly! XO
HAPPY 1st BIRHTDAY CLARY JANE! and GREAT JOB Meghan and Travis on having such an adorable baby!

my boys...these pictures speak for themselves

2011-02-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

we're lovin' these boys!
travelling to FL tomorrow for Feb vacation!!!!!
so blessed to be able to go, see family, see friends, and relax! we're determined to make the best of this trip and enjoy every minute

on your average snow day...

2011-02-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

here is what we did today, an average snow day at the reveleys.

about 7 a.m. we find out that there is no school! *mini celebration time!!!!
Daddy wakes up with Caedmon and plays with Shep when he wakes up (after 8ish)
Mommy wakes up late, feeds Shep when he needs to (about 9 a.m.)

Breakfast and playtime; we made up a new game "Go Fish For Forks" its like go fish but if you get a #7 you get a fork. the first person with three forks was the winner. I've got one creative boy! :)

Daddy does work
Mommy cleans the house
Shep naps about three 40 minute or more naps
Caedmon does a millllllllion different activities including but not limited to: rockin' out, drumming, playing with cars, coloring, drawing, playing every board game he has, eating snacks, making goofy games up, watching videos on youtube if we let him, playing with shep (kissing him, blowing rhaspberries on his belly), making a million messes, doing blocks, and much more)
lunch time
dessert time - special treat! we made Ziplock Bag Ice Cream!

there's a link to what we did. First i had to run out in the snow and get some icicles and snow to do it!
(enjoying the ice cream)

reading time
creative time - today mommy made Caedmon a guitar strap for his homemade guitar. I've been wanting to do this forever, but just found the time!

more board games
daddy snow blows, the snow finally calmed down a bit

dinner time - we made a "TACO BELL RESTAURANT" per his request. he's never been to a taco bell, but thinks he likes it. he did eat a taco and i made these awesome enchiladas!
after dinner -we actually let caedmon watch tv. he watch alvin and the chipmunks. He was very thankful, but we had to let him do something; he was getting stir crazy
Bath time
reading time
bed time for caed
play time with shep
bed time for shep at 8:00

chill time for mommy and daddy; catching up on our favorite tv shows! wheeeew!
what a great day, and i was in my jammies the whole time!

january where did you go?!

2011-02-01T17:42:00.001-08:00

January was a blur, a good one - a GREAT ONE! we spent much of our time inside because there have been over 40 inches of snow!

Highlights:
Ringing in the New Year with a group of friends!
Back to school on the 3rd of Jan
Snow days start piling up
Jan 10-13th Uncle Wes came to visit. It was so great to have him around. Caedmon was in his element just playing with Wes, making up games, and playing with wes' smart phone.
We took wes to Boston one night, ate some amazing food and enjoyed time in the city. we also had a snow day when he was here.
Jan 16th - my bday! it was nice to celebrate with my boys and laura and ryan brought me a cake. The bears played in the playoffs and won!
jan 17th - no school so i had a shopping day with the girls

caedmon january update:
- loves playing cards; crazy eights and uno
- loves board games; chutes and ladders, curious george discovery beach, and HI HO Cherry-o; he schools us all in them!
- is becoming a great eater! he is eating us out of house and home - especially loving chicken nuggets and even healthy food (apple sauce, corn, apples, rice, etc.)
- he is hilarious! caedmon always has a smart comment or come back or sly smile to end our conversations!
- he loves the snow, enjoyed sledding and mostly eating the snow
- he learned what a tattoo was recently, funny. he said he can get one when he's a rockstar
- really loves HANSON music
- has been waking up tooooo early and throwing fits many mornings. he has had tv taken away a lot of this month...uck
-turned 3.5 years this month. can't believe he's getting so big!

shepherd update:
- turned 3 months old
- loves to laugh and smile at everyone
- very laid back and very chill, easy going, and EASY!
- shep can roll over, does even better when you help him
- enjoys his monkey rattle toy and crunchy "book" toy
- has the cutest smile!
- is about 14-15 lbs
- a good eater, patient if he has to wait to eat, usually eats every 3 hours
- sleeping very well, waking up only once a night
- likes to look at books and loves when we do reading time
- melts my heart and pretty much everyone who knows him. he's just a sweetie!
- call him "momma's boy!" because i obsess over his cuteness and always steal him from daddy the minute i get home!

Christmas Eve day

2010-12-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

Today is Christmas Eve day! This year is such a blurrrr! It is the first Christmas we aren't travelling home to WI or AR. But, we are very thankful for our boys here and to have a nice quite break from work/school and to be with eachother. We have pretty much completely spoiled our boys, along with the rest of the world! a lot of great gifts are pilled up under the tree and there is a lot of love!
I must admit, i haven't been in the Christmas Spirit as much as usual. Not sure why, but hope to be reminded of it tonight at the Christmas Eve service and tomorrow morning when we share the Christmas story and pray with our sons.
I will be cooking up a storm tomorrow, even if its just for me and ryan. Got a live lobster cooked up today to make homemade lobster bisque for the first time, also some fresh scallops for bacon-wrapped scallops. We'll be doing gormet pizzas and lots of treats. I'm excited to spend the day eating and opening presents!

Here is our Christmas Card "story" this year to share with you all...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Enjoy all the events and joys of the season.

ten things Caedmon is up to these days

2010-12-19T16:47:00.000-08:00

1. playing by himself more - we're thankful that Caedmon is finally taking more time to play alone. not that we don't love to play with him - but MAN his energy level is hard to keep up with!
2. going to bed like a champ. he goes to bed well, doesn't complain about actually having to go to bed. that's nice!
3. READING - he can read. seriously, he has over 300 sight words and even read us an ENTIRE book the other day.
4. going to school and loving it. he enjoys being a part of ms lisa's k3 class. he especially loves show and tell. see my facebook for a video of him at school. its adorable.
5. making up stories - he loves to make up things that he "thinks" are true or wishes are true. for example, "i have that game (after seeing a game on tv), i got it at target. evee came over and played it before bedtime." hillarious....
6. getting hurt. he gets hurt or has little accidents allllll the time. he's so clumsy. he is always falling off chairs, bumping into things, and not looking in front of him while he walks...ahh!
7. lovin' a new boy band. his newest musical obsession is Hason and he loves BonJovi more than ever. Hason does have some awesome new music, yes the ummbop guys. he is always rockin' out to the ipod in the dock in his playroom.
8. asking santa questions - he asked who was dressed up like santa at church today. we told him it WAS santa. he then asked, "where's his sleigh." we said, "on top of the church roof. you can't see it." his reply - an innocent, "oh"
9. MEDIA obsession - he has a real obsession with media. he loves to watch movies, tv, look at videos and pictures on the computer, play with the ipod, our friends' iphones, etc. we're always trying to cut back on it, since he doenst get to watch much TV at all he craves it even more. this will be a battle for a loooooooong time i'm afraid.
10. he's so lovable. caedmon is so lovable to shepherd and us. he is always kissing and giving us hugs, and telling us how much he loves us. I just die when he says, " mommy, you'are a good mommy. a really good one." He always makes sure that we're "keeping shepherd."

we're very thankful for this amazing little 3 year 4 month old! he's still our joy!

another ten

2010-12-17T17:57:00.000-08:00

10 things we love about Shepherd at 10 weeks

1. HE SLEEPS! yes, still! he sleeps so well. even if he doesn't take his long naps, his night time is great! HE goes to bed about 9 to 9:30 and only wakes up one time in the night and then in the a.m. before i got to work. THIS IS A GOD SEND FOR OUR FAMILY! HES AMAZING!
2. the chunk - we love the chunky wrists, thighs, belly...so cute!
3. THE SMILE! its so beautiful and he loves to smile at Caedmon, mommy, and daddy.
4. How you look at Caedmon. Shep loves caedmon, loves to pay attention to him, loves to see what hes doing, and he's always looking for him. even when caed is a little rough on him he's still happy.
5. your eyes - they are getting lighter, but have a depth to them that is so beautiful
6. how chill you are - we take you anywhere, make you wait to eat often because of many 3 year old interruptions, and you don't mind!
7. kicky-play-play : when you kick and play on the floor
8."strong man" i call you "strongman" beacuse you love to hold you head up and try and sit up and push up...all about up - mostly to get a better view of caedmon!
9. soft skin - i still kiss you so much and love those soft soft cheeks!
10. holding you - its still nice that shep is at the stage where he's not too heavy to carry around, he's just the perfect accessory! when i'm home with him i hate to put him down becuase i know how fast this time will go!

WE LOVE YOU SHEP!!!

christmas time is here! top 10 of 2010

2010-12-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

wow! i am floored with the idea that 1. i have two kids 2. its' mid december 3. christmas i here

we are doing our usual events here: our annual christmas party *which was last night, putting up a tree, spending wayyyyy too much, eating wayyyy too much, and all the while trying to enjoy eachother and be thankful. We won't be travelling home to WI this year, but we'll be there in spirit and enjoying a true NE Christmas.
we are very thankful for this year

here's our top ten in 2010:

1. Finding out we’re having another one!
Feb 8, 2010 it was POSITIVE! we were pregnant again. This pregnancy was so different, but great. It went by very fast. It was fun to teach caedmon and train him to be ready for a little brother or sister.
2. Road trip to Pennsylvania/Ohio/Kentucky in April 2010
Spending time as a family on this road trip was the best part! we really enjoyed eachother and had the opportunity to visit the Creation Museum in KY. It was awesome.
3. Allie getting the opportunity to do photography
I finally put some of my passion to work this year being able to do some family shoots, senior portraits, and 6 weddings with Laura Wagner Photography. It was a great experience and hope to continue to do more with her and on my own.
4. Celebrating 5 years at Matthews Memorial Church
How the time has flown! we are blessed to be at Matthews Memorial and have grown very close to our church family here. This year we had an amazing VBS, a great Sunday School program, and the Stable coffeehouse is continuing to grow.
5. Best summer in New England– EVER!
We hit the beach a lot this summer, swam a ton, and enjoyed a very HOT beautiful summer. Caedmon loved being outside and enjoyed all the fun activities.
6. Ryan and Caedmon’s trip to Arkansas
The boys headed out to ARK to visit family. They enjoyed waterparks, seeing friends, and playing with Gramma and Pa.
7. Caedmon turning three…
His boy continues to amaze us! He is a music fanatic and has started to read! He's a joy to us every day and is so unique and special. We are very proud of our boy whos 3 going on 13.
8. Four years at Community Christian Academy
Ryan and I have now been with CCA for four years. We are very thankful to be apart of this amazing Christian school and ministry. This fall we started our 5th year; ryan as a bible teacher and Allie as school secretary.
9. Birth of Shepherd Thomas Reveley
October 5, 2010 at 7:48 a.m. our second son entered this world! After only 2 hours of labor his beautiful face made itself know and we fell in love! Shep is an amazing baby, very relaxed, mild mannered, and a good sleeper! Caedmon and Shepherd are already best friends and love one another so much.
10. Watching our family and boys grow
The greatest joy this year was watching our family grow. Spending time in MN with the Bablers was a highlight as well as using Skype to catch up. Another nephew is entering the picture this coming 2011 and we can't wait to meet him. We love our boys and we are thankful for every day with them and look forward to a great 2011.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

he's got it made

2010-11-28T10:25:00.001-08:00

seriously what if your job was to:
1. wear comfy clothes all the time
2. sleep as much as you want and people adore you even more the MORE you sleep
3. eat your favorite food all day
4. when you do actually wake up, people hold you, cuddle you, smile at you, and kiss you
5. your comfort is the top priority of your employers and they do everything to make sure you are kept at the perfect temp, have nice blankets in reach, etc.
6. you don't even have to get up to go to the bathroom
7. your always surrounded by people you love and who love you

this sounds like the perfect job to me. the next best job, that i guess i'll accept is mine. i'll be returning there tomorrow, without this little man :*(
i know i'm blessed with my work and i'm happy i have this position, at this wonderful school. i'm just really going to miss him and it'll be quite the adjustment.
pray for us!

shepherd's birth story - finally :)

2010-11-19T13:09:00.000-08:00

Shepherd’s birth story

I’m so excited to tell this story! I’m no past the point of still feeling the pain from it, so its easier to tell. Shepherd was 6 weeks this week, and a total joy. I never knew having a second boy could be just as great as having one boy! We are so in love with him and it’s been a blessing to have our family grow and have two perfect boys, each unique in their own way.
Shepherd came into this world even more dramatically than Caedmon, but in a calm drama – if you can believe that.
I think I was right when I said during the pregnancy, “a rougher pregnancy will bring a calmer baby”. Through all my aches and pains the last month, I held on to this hope. Caedmon gave me a perfect pregnancy, I didn’t even know a birthing pain until I went into labor and three hours later he was here! Shepherd’s pregnancy was rougher, wearing, tiring, and just plain painful. I had so much false labor and shooting pains that I dind’t know when this baby would come if ever!
I like to think the birth story began when we found out that my cousin, who lives in western Massachusetts announced she was engaged and getting married in OCT. She did so right when I found out I was pregnant! I instantly was anxious that my family would come for her wedding, leave, and then I’d give birth. I fretted over that for many months, and then realized – “HEY! God know’s!” He knew the whole time that this would happen. He is a loving father who wants what’s best for his children – he knew I wanted my family there. He knew…he delivered.
My family arrived, in stages. First, Nan, Brian, Elliot, and Dede (all the way from Alaska) showed up on Sept 28th. I was due Oct 12th. We spent a few days together until Mom, Dad, Will, Karen, and Mason arrived on Oct 2nd. The plan was that they would take Caedmon to the Oct 3rd wedding, and give us some time to relax, get ready for baby, or have the baby, that day and the next day Oct. 4th. That is just what happened. I had a lot of false labor on Oct 3rd, Ryan and I enjoyed a quiet day together. We went out for lunch, went for a beautiful fall walk, made dinner together, watched “24”, and watched the Bears game. I had contractions from 8 to 11 p.m., but then nothing. WE both slept well that night, and woke up to NO BABY. That was okay, my family was still in western MA and I had a Dr. appointment on Monday the 4th at 12. The midwife could see I was getting ready. I was 3 cm dialted and 80% effaced, she stripped my membranes and predicted I would have the baby within 24 hours. SHE WAS RIGHT!
That afternoon, I felt no different. I prepared a meal for the whole family and Laura and Ryan came to join us. I husseled and busseled around the house, getting ready for everyone’s return at 5 p.m. I was greatly distracted and we didn’t even talk much baby talk.
That night I went to bed, with some contractions, but nothing seriously. I woke up at 2 a.m. – felt nothing. Woke up at 5 a.m. – felt nothing. Woke up at 5:30 a.m….maybe felt something. Then, at 5:40 I had my first contraction with a sleeping husband next to me. Seven minutes later, another one, 5 minutes later, another one, 5 minutes later another one…until 6:15. I then said to Ryan, “I’m not going to let you sleep while I am over here in so much pain. “ These contractions weren’t bad, I was silent, still sleepy, and just relaxing my way through them. At 6:30 the first bad one hit. At the same time Caedmon woke up. I told ryan to attend to him and leave me alone. I then reached for my phone and called mom, at 6:33 a.m. I told her, “this is real, you might want to get here or get to the hospital.” Caedmon came into our bed, with his drink, and a hug for me. I cried, and cried. I knew it was the last time he was my only child. He was my oldest son, my baby…but not for long. It was real, he’d have a sibling today and all we’ve thought of would start to run its course. I held him, he told me he loved me, then I hugged him through another contraction. After that I knew I had to get serious. The clock said 6:45, and I could only think of the traffic on the way to the hospital if we waited too long. I ran to the bathroom. Elliot woke up (nan, brian, elliot, and dede were staying with us this night). I woke up Nan and Brian, told them we were going to the hospital. I was now doing well, about 3 to 5 minutes between contractions, but in pain. I put my contacts in, and began to feverishly brush my hair. Bags were all packed, we said our goodbyes, and I kissed Caedmon *who was now downstairs watching tv. He said, “Can I come.” Everyone in the room answered “NO.”
I got my camera bag, my purse, and into the driveway. I stopped to wait a contraction out and yelled, crying in pain, “ I want my mommy!” I was desperate, and needed to get to the hospital. We drove out of our driveway at exactly 7 a.m. We arrived to the hospital, contractions now 2 minutes apart at about 7:20. When I got into the emergency room, the attendant said, “honey, you’re carrying pretty high, I don’t think you’re going to have this baby today.” I gave her a piece of my mind, I said, “oh yeah! Well, my last labor was really fast too. I was 80% effaced and 3 cm yesterday, I’m having this baby now!” I got on my hands and knees and thought I should push, but I got on a bed and they rolled me to the room. It was about 7:25 when I arrived in the delivery room and met for the first time the midwife on duty – Kate Kent. She was at the end of her shift and visibly tired, not in the mood for me. She was not that cool – sorry, but it’s the truth. I got on the bed and was fully 10 cm, ready to go. They talked me through things, said she needed to break my water. I waited about 2 more contractions and let her break it. It was SWEEET RELIEF! Then had to push, and according to her, I wasn’t “pushing effectively.” Well, you tell me how effective this is – 5 solid pushes and a baby face up – and he was out. They said, “It’s a boy”, I looked down and there he was, on my chest. We were surprised, and overjoyed. Saying, we have two boys!!!! It was great, he was beautiful. I noticed the cleft in his chin right away and we named him Shepherd. It was an awesome moment and ryan did a beautiful job with me all the way. He took great pictures too!
The only sad thing was that mom and nan, and laura were not in the room to be there. Laura was running late, and mom and nan got lost on the way there! Bummer. But it was so special to just be me and ryan. I kissed him and held him and Shepherd was here. After a little bit of repair work*,Mom and Nan entered the room and met him. It was very emotional and sweet. I was so thankful they were there. Laura then came to take pictures. After an hour or so, ryan left the hospital and went to pick up Caedmon to meet his brother. These moments will always be treasured and welcoming Shepherd within hours of his birth was my whole family. I praise God that he delivered - he delivered in so many ways that day! Welcome Shepherd Thomas, you are loved!

latest and greatest

2010-11-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

So, obviously i've been pretty busy since my last post. Things are going really well. We've adjusted fine to two children and Shepherd is a great blessing to our family. Caedmon is still a joy, our big boy now - literally. He's grown 2 inches and 5 lbs since July! whoa...
Things happening.
i'm mostly home all the time, and its exhausting! i see why stay at home mom's are so tired and actually go to bed early! i'm not looking forward to going back to work right now, so i'm excited to have two more weeks at home. There were so many things i wanted to accomplish, but getting my home in order is the most important thing.
I'm very blessed and excited to report that SHEPHERD SLEEPS! yes, we've tried our hardest to get some good patterns for him and it's working. he's wonderful, only wakes up 1 time a night now! it's insanity! it's AWESOME!
Caedmon has been hillarious lately. Some of his funniest sayings/doings lately are:
"Didn't see that coming." - every time he falls or gets hurt, etc.
"lights camera action" - he loves to make up videos and stories in front of a flashlight and an old camera. I have to try and get these on video!
"you like that beat" - as he drums on his made up drum set...adorable, but loud
"sheppppps, that's what i call him now. sheps"
"when i was a kid" - he's been starting lots of sentences and stories with that. he even told us that when he was a kid he was the boy in the dreamworks moon. hillarious. he loves movies and anything to do with videos ect.
Caedmon has atlest 200 sight words. i'm amazed to say that, but he can read and recognize soooo many words!

Shepherd is great, a few long naps and a lot of short ones, a good bed time and a great disposition.

I have been dealing with a little bit of fatigue. Hope that improves now that i'm at the 6 week mark thsi week and can get more active. the cold weather and two busy boys are usually preventing that though :(

ahhhh, another weeks begins. Lord, prepare me to be the mommy you want me to be!

Whats up with my boys...

2010-10-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

well, we're adjusting well...that's only thanks to 1. the grace of God, 2. my mom being here and doing practically everyting 3. the fact that ryan and are what i call "semi-professional" parents..(we're on our way to going all-pro but there are a lot of things we haven't conquered yet. )
4. the fact that i get to sleep in until 9ish every morning, sometimes 10. i'm a bear without a lot of sleep.

some funny things happening around here and some Shepherd notes :)
we did Shepherd's newborn pics at 6 days old, most of you may have seen them on Facebook or on laura's blog....www.laurawagnerphotography.com/blog...ADORABLE! well, in the process caedmon decided to sit on the chair that we had planned to use for shep, and said the following, "say, HI GOD!"
response from the crowd, "what?!?!"
caedmon, "say - "HI GOD", i'm God, in the throne."
response, "so, what you're saying is that you're God, sitting on a throne and want us to say Hi to you?"
caedmon, "yes!"

as the day went on, and the week went on - this little guy got more and more hillarious in his comments. like, after learning where he lived *Chelmsford, Massachusetts of course* he told his grandpa he lived in "Honk Kong"...he's crazy.

Shepherd is a good, good, good baby. Unfortunately he has a cold right now, and so he really does sleep and sleep, at night he was doing great until this little cold. We're having him sleep in the bassinet next to our bed and he's doing really well. He eats quickly and like a champ - no issues there. i have to start storing up milk for work though...oh boy.
Shepherd's eyes are turning more blue and he's a very BRIGHT baby. we notice how different he is from how caedmon was, but we love it. he's more cuddly and gentle and "soft". i've been decorating his room this week and as soon as i get curtains we'll unvail it! it's almost done and is very boyish and cute. i'm happy with the "bug car" theme, as mom calls it.
Shep is about 7.5 lbs now and sooo tiny.

we have Three Rules for Caedmon when it comes to Shepherd
1. NO TOUCHING SHEPPY'S EYES
2. NO LICKING HIM (yes, caedmon loves to lick shepherd, we can't figure that one out)
3. NO WAKING HIM UP WHEN HE'S SLEEPING

so far so good...we'll need to add more rules i'm sure like, no carrying him soon i think, but other than that Caed has been an amazing big brother and has only asked to, "Send Sheppy back to the hospital" once.

more excitement to come i'm sure...life is good.

Family of Four - Week 1

2010-10-11T17:27:00.001-07:00

So, our first week as a family of four has been emotional, intense, exciting, relaxing at times, and even so - very smooth.

Since Shepherd's birth and coming home our first priority was really Caedmon's adjustment or lack there of. He's adjusted amazingly well to the baby...so well! he loves him so much, kisses him, loves to see him and hug him and wants to hold him, but he's not overwhelming him or me. We did notice, until today, that Caedmon was "out of sorts" just not himself. He would act up for ryan and i, but was perfect for my mom or whoever else was watching him. His behavior was just so not "him" and a few times really brought Ryan and I to tears. We knew this would be a transition time, but it's still hard to go through. We just kept saying, We're sooooooo thankful he's nice to the baby. Not once has he said anything negative about Shepherd. He calls him "shep-her-deeeeee" and is interested in the "built in bottles of milk" that mommy has. That took some explaining :)
Caedmon was back to normal today - PRAISE THE LORD! he played like normal, ate like normal, acted like Caedmon again. wheew!!!
the morning i went into labor caedmon came into our bed like normal, at about 6:30 a.m. until 6:45...my contractions were less than 5 apart and i knew it was going to get serious. I just held him, my only son at the time, and cried and cried. I just kept thinking this was it, i was going to have two children by the end of this day and things were going to change forever. He said, " i love you mommy" and hugged me back. These "last" moments with him i'll always remember because it gave me the strength to really get serious about the labor and bring Caedmon his brother or sister home.
so, now that we're adjusting and doing well, i'm just taking a sigh of relief knowing my boys are here. i have BOYS, i have SONS....it's great! We'll go through so many transitions and changes, but we're also going to have a millllllion amazing experiences!

39 weeks - and the baby is here!!!!!

2010-10-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

welcome to the world SHEPHERD THOMAS REVELEY! This morning after only 2 hours of labor another little boy entered our family! 7 lbs even 19.5 inches long and perfectly perfect! he looks like caedmon, but has a cute dimple in his chin and actually is sleepy...atleast for now! we're so blessed and happy and our family is beyond excited!!!!! more info to come!

37 weeks and i'm feeeeeeeeeeeeling gooooooooood

2010-09-22T15:27:00.001-07:00

yes, i'm actually feeling really good this week. last week was harder on my body and this week i'm settling in to this "dropped" belly and just willing to wait it out. tomorrow i have an appointment and will get checked, then tuesday i'll get checked to see if there was any progress in those 5 days...if so, i may consider some "help" along the way to get this baby here while my family is visiting.
some awesome baby blessings came our way this week:
1. SURPRISE SHOWER from our friends for our whole family. it was amazing - see hte pics on facebook.
2. Gifts from my parents for baby Reveley. they, of course, sent all things that we want/need and can totally use for baby!!!!! a new boppy lounger, a bundle-me, and some bottles. very cool. my mom is so considerate!
3. not a baby blessing, but a major good thing. Ryan's dad had a heart attack last week, out of the blue. this monday he had surgery and is recovering very well. its hard that ryan couldn't go to ARK to be there, but all is well and he's feeling better. We are thankful for all the prayers and support they've had while flynn was in the hospital and as he continues to heal.
4. our baby names are no longer 100% secret, we told all of our closet friends at the shower. it was fun to share. teh girl name got rave reviews and the boy name was looked at "questionably" but they all liked it. kinda like when we dropped the Caedmon-bomb on everyone. no one expected a name like that and it seemed to foreign, but its SO him now. i'm sure if its a boy the same thing will happen.

so, waiting for baby reveley is going smoothly and this our last week of normalcy before my fam comes and i'm out of work, etc.
whew! i'm ready...i think....ahah

1 month to go...some baby news

2010-09-12T17:09:00.001-07:00

well, my baby is due in exactly 1 month from today! how it could possibly be september 12th already is beyond me! how the family that i have always dreamed of is quickly becoming real is also beyond me. tonight i took time to reflect on a picture of caedmon only hours after he was born, then a picture of him now...un-b-elieve-a-ble! seriously...how does the world just keep spinning. i wish i had a pause button.

lately, i've been so in love with my big boy and savoring all the sweet little things about him before my time is going to be slip a bit. i think he's ready, i mean - we have been talking about it FOREVER! he is as anxious as we are i'm sure! whenever i'm stopped around the house with a "practice pain" he says, "you okay, mommy. was it the baby?" he's understanding a bit.

things these past few weeks:

- i'm fuller, quicker. can't eat as much because my entire abdomen is fulllllllll

- all my maternity shirts are even getting short on me...not fun. need to wear dresses i guess!

- back to working full time and sore after work. very tired most days again.

-NESTING - getting this house ready for not only the baby, but my entire family to visit! they are coming between sept 29 and oct 2 and leaving between oct 6 and 8th - excpet my mom and aunt who are staying almost the whole month of oct. it'll be a wild month with many visitors and so pray with us i have the baby while they are all here so they can meet him/her

-buying baby stuff: diapers, wipes, bath stuff, replacing some worn out/old things, and yes - still buying GIRL things because i have NOTHING if this baby is a girl!

- very sore pelvis and lots of low back pain.

- wakeful at night in pain and in anticipation of the baby

- more emotional - but cranky actually. i hate this part of hormones, because i don't like to be a cranky, whiney person. but it comes out that way unfortunately.

- decorating: got new carpet in the baby room and so i'm choosing fabrics for the curtains, bedding etc, for boy and girl and will purchase after the birth.

- at my last dr. appointment on the 31st of august i got some news. the Dr. thinks that it may be safer in my case to naturally induce with stripping my membranes and using the insertion of cervidil between 38-39 weeks instead of waiting to see how i go into labor. the reason is because i had such a rapid labor with caedmon and i almost didn't make it to the hospital. also, because of my contractions already he wants to have more "control." normally i'd be 100000% NO, but because my family is going to be here visiting exactly between 38-39 weeks i may go for it if he checks me and i'm already looking like there is some progression. he is confident that it will go smoothly and still happen naturally without other intervention. i do TOTALLY trust him, but i just need to wait and see how i'm feeling and how my body is progressing.

well, that is baby Reveley news. we do have names, we are ready for boy or girl, we are excited, and caedmon is too! come on, baby!!!!!

my fav family - the Mabons and Gracie's 6 month shoot

2010-09-05T17:32:00.001-07:00

the happiest baby on planet earth!

My future daughter-in-law :)....what a beauty!!!!!!! Evee, 3 years 6 months

The Mabons - picture perfect!

believe it or not, these eyes are not edited!!!! these girls just naturally have glistening eyes!

quotable

2010-08-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

some great quotes of this week/past few weeks:

"laughter is like a vacation - and its completely free!" - Pastor Najem at teacher orientation week. it's soooooooooooooooo true! every time i get a good laugh, i feel free, breezy, joyful, light - just like i do on vacation. ryan and i love to laugh together, and with caedmon!

"everyone's going to the church" - caedmon
"why" - mommy
"for the wedding" - caedmon
"who's wedding?" - mommy
"me and you!" - caedmon

he has been saying he wants to marry me all the time! we love each other, thats for sure!

baby related:
"when the baby comes out i'm going to go back in your belly and you can carry me"
"i'm going to be the baby helper!"
"i don't want the baby to come, i'm not going to be nice to the baby. i am going to not like this baby at all." (on a bad day, moments later he was telling me how he wanted to be my baby helper again!)
"the baby said GOO!" - from Bearnstein Bears 'Baby Makes 5' book

"its like you just had a baby and someone says its ugly!" IVY on project runway...hillarious...in reference to her team's clothing collection, not an actual person.

"apparently i have the gestation period of an elephant" - paraphrased from one of my favorite fb friends, amber neil who is wayyyyyyyyyy overdue! praying for her and hoping baby neil comes soon!!!!

things have been good here, time is flying by! i'm due in 6 weeks from today, but i had a great appointment with my doc today and feel like it could be sooner, according to him. beacuse of my "history of RAPID labor" (aka, i had caedmon in 3 hours, pushed only 20 minutes) they are concerned that i will have a wild second labor and since my family is coming the week before i'm due they may do some induction techniques that are not too invasive between 38-39 weeks.
i'm excited! if i could find out what htis baby is before schedule - that's awesome. plus, i want to get started on my family of 4!!!!!
i have a ton to do at home! the play room is now 90% done, only molding to hang and a little cleaning up then i'll post new pictures of the final project.
Jack Bauer is still the main man in our house, this summer has be a summer of "24" and ryan and i are still addicted!
caedmon is JOYFUL! so joyful! he just makes our day, when i'm home and tired out, i'm estatic to watch him "jam" on his drum, guitar, or yelling on his microphone. he is busy learning to read and impressing us all the time. he knows so many words by sight and is now sounding out words he doesn't know. very smart little bugger!
my last session of maternity pictures are this week as well as parent orientation night for school and the birth of my friend April's baby! he's coming on thursday - can't wait to hear the name she's kept secret!
joy joy joy! i'm so thankful for this stage in life and even more thankful God is giving me the energy to enjoy it all!

Katie J - Senior Pictures

2010-08-29T16:49:00.001-07:00

Here is a sneak preview of Katie's senior pictures! We had a beautiful morning to shoot and Katie always smiled perfectly! I had a great time doing your pictures and wish you the best during your senior year!

Jenna and Matt Machnik - Wedding Day!

2010-08-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

after the sweet and wonderful ceremony, we met downtown lowell for some MASSIVE wedding party pictures! gotta love this fun group!
perfection.
party!
MORE TO COME!!!!! I'm having uploading issues...sorry!!!!
-Allie

Senior Saturday

2010-08-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

This saturday morning I had the pleasure of photographing two seniors. They are friends and so we did their sessions in the same locations at the same tim. Sam and Kevin were great! Enjoy this preview!

Beautiful Sam, Class of 2011. She was so easy to photograph and she has a great sense of style! BEST OF LUCK!
Kevin, Class of 2011, in the culinary arts program at Greater Lowell Tech. He is a really chill, nice guy and was so cooperative! I had a fun time photographing him, even when I got attacked by killer bees! BEST OF LUCK, KEVIN! God bless you on this new journey and during your last year of HS.

August b-day boys!

2010-08-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Today is my dad's 62nd birthday - retirement age, right? NO WAY! This guy is more active than ever and such an inspiration. He is a perfect example that if you love what you do, no age can define when you should stop. mom would argue and say, mayb he needs to slow down a little bit!

My dad has always been an amazing father, and we knew he'd be an AWESOME grandfather! When he got three little boys off the bat, that was PERFECT! Dad is awesome with all the little guys, always teaching them and laughing, playing, and rough-housing. I just wish he was able to see Caedmon more because they are SO much alike! i'm blessed beyond belief with this father and caedmon and baby don't even realize how great of a grandfather they have yet. Someday when they look back at the pictures of themselves with him I hope they see his JOY!

Here is a great picture of dad with Mason, his youngest grandson, my brother's boy. Mason is a funny little sweetheart. Dad and Mason are "tight" because they get to see eachother a little more than the rest of the boys. So cute!

Speaking of MASON, it is almost his first birthday - saturday! I can't believe how much he's changed in one year. He's a big boy, so full of happiness, and very laid back. I loved watching him scoot around at the cabin on vacation and it was especially cute watching my brother and his wife with their adorable son! Mason is going to be a very smart boy, we can already see that. Not to mention, HANDSOME! his blue eyes are so bright and he's just wonderful!

enjoy these pictures of my august bday boys!

God Give Us HOPE!

2010-08-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

day 1 of vbs, i'll be honest - i wasn't that enthusiastic about vbs this year. the heat, the big belly, the work, the sore feet, the wild 3 year old that would be rampaging about! but, GOD GIVES ME HOPE! he gave me hope tonight after a great night with my fun, but WILD family group. i have hope that he is going to speak through this program to many children and teach them something new.
we're doing Group's program, "EGYPT: Joseph's story from prison to palace." it's great and i'm so thankful for all the helpers and leaders that we have at our church stepping out to teach and guide these children.
I pray for HOPE to be instilled in the hearts of these children, especially my little boy. the hope that God gives us for our future is sometimes the only thing we have in dark/sad/lonely times. as adults its so easy to look back at hard times and see how we got through them - the hope of God and his promises fulfilled. i'm hoping for a great week!
with love,
Allie, Giza Family

catching up

2010-08-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

well, to catch up on my last two weeks:

1. vacation! it was aweosme. too many stories, sooooo many pictures, can't even scratch the surface here. but one thing i did learn: i don't think i can ever get SICK of being with my family. probably the result of not living near them for the last 10 years, but still. it is a good thing. i'm so blessed and might i say, ryan and caedmon are blessed i brought them into this clan! :) ahaha

2. back to work, back to daily grinding, back to disciplining my child, back to reality, back to cooking, and cleaning, back to watching 24, back to bills, back to the basics.

this week has been wild. so busy. caedmon has been a bit high maintenance this week as has the baby. ive had so many pains and been cranky and uncomfortable thanks to this little one within. all in all, it hasn't been a GREAT week, but i'm still trying to make the best of summer that i have left. this is my last 4 day weekend before work goes to 4 days and i will still have fridays off in august. it's hitting me that in less than 10 weeks i'll have a BABY! word!

i'll write more when i'm coherent!

VBS is next week!

Day 3 - errands and softball

2010-07-24T06:18:00.000-07:00

elliot - the best little eater EVER!

Today i woke up and went to tricia's house for another visit. i didn't really take pics there because nora was up and down and we just visited. it was nice to just hang with tricia and her mom was there too! a very nice quiet time. The rest of the day was filled with preparations to leave for the lake. Last minute errands, going to an appointment with nan, playing outside, my parents and wes arriving to MN, and then watching brian and ryan play softball together. both boys wore no. 17. ryan got into the groove his second game and hit a grandslam!

day 2 - relaxing in Shakopee MN

2010-07-24T06:06:00.000-07:00

Our second day we spent relaxing at nan and brian's house with a late morning nap, some time at the park, a visit from my best friend, and dinner at a mexican restaurant.
this day was so much better! It was so good to wake up in the a.m. and just be where we were supposed to be instead of in a hotel, having to fly again in the a.m.
tricia came to visit!!!! tricia has been my best friend for over - get this 26 years!!!!! :) i am so blessed to have her and now her little girl and hubby in my life

this face made me so happy! I got to meet Nora Rose, tricia's baby! she has been through so much in her four months, with hospital visits due to a rare liver disorder, but today she was PERFECTLY PERFECT! love this little girl!bath time - cousin time! so thankful caedmon has been an amazing cousin this trip! he is completely nice to elliot - no "wild-manning" as we call it! he did dump this water on his head, but elliot didn't seem to mind! The two boys are so extremely cute together!

our vacation log - day one TRAVEL DAY and NIGHT and MORNING and...

2010-07-22T07:06:00.000-07:00

So, day one of our travels just happened to be Caedmon's 3rd birthday. the day started with me going to the chiropractor and on the way there very nearly missing a horrible accident - God's angels watching over me, but it made me realize "today might not be that smooth." Work was busy busy busy. i left work an hour later than expected but came home to celebrate a little bit with my boy before travelling.
3:20 left our home
4:ish arrived at airport and found out our flight was delayed and we'd miss our connection to MINN. First a few letdowns
5ish: decided that my dad would pick us up in Milwaukee instead of going to Minneapolis. Then we'll just go to MIN with them on friday.
5:15ish ate at "Remy's" in the airport for Caedmon's 3rd bday dinner.
6:24 supposed to leave for Milkwaukee, had to make the decision that we will stay overnight there and travel to Min in the morning instead of having my fam pick us up.
flight didn't leave until 7:15 and then - WE SAT ON THE RUNWAY FOR AN HOUR!
So, now we are wayyyy behind.
8:20: flight took off, flew for 2.5 hours. arrived milwaukee, planned on staying overnight and someone said, "anyone going to Minnesota, the original flight never left"
it is now 10:12 midwest time - 11:12 our time and Caedmon says for the first time ever!
"I need to go to sleep." the poor boy was exhausted!!!!!
got on the flight and he was out! unfortunately it was s quick flight and he JUST HAD TO BE buckled into his seat, so we had to wake him up and he was still a trooper. very little crying. we were so proud.
NOW the next big letdown: we arrive to Minneapolis 11:30 midwest time and we wait and wait and wait and brian shows up to pick us up and we wait and wait and wait and NO BAGGAGE! after we were promised our bags! soooooo hard to deal with in that moment. leave at 12:40 to go to their house.
CAedmon zonks out.
we get there 1 a.m., 2 our time and go to bed!
up at 7:40ish this am. - WIPED OUT!
pictures to come...and MUCH BETTER STORIES TOO!!!!!

day 2 proves to be much better i'm goign to meet NORA ROSE MUNSON! my best friend's baby today!!!

can't believe

2010-07-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

a three year monkey picture - on his 3rd bday, july 21st! caedmon always got his pic taken with this monkey each month and now i'll do it each year. what a big boy!
I can't believe it's been soooo long since i updated, but i can!

what a summer it's been!

(pics courtesy of www.laurawagnerphotography.com/blog )

i also can't believe that my son is 3 THREEEEE years old in only 2 days. I remember holding his soft little warm body cuddling with him and the joy that came over me when he was placed in my arms and MINE to care for. Now, i am filled with joy for so many other reasons - he's an amazing blessing to us. he's our life our love. the best three years EVER! he has brought so much good to us and i pray he will continue to as well as continue to grow and be healthy has he's done thus far. i love this little man. :)

We have had a lot of activities going on including: caedmon's 3rd bday party, rearranging the rooms for baby 2 to arrive, enjoying the hot weather, ryan's softball, vacation coming this week, photographing a wedding with laura, and our friend Jen's 30th bday bash in boston! updates on each of these will be coming soon - i plan on it anyway!!!!

update on baby stuff

2010-07-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

so, i fb'd today, "i'm not ready for another baby yet" and it's true. this is flying by. i'm so not "ready" i kinda wish we had found out what we were having so i could feel more ready. i have a serious addiction to baby girl clothes, but controlling myself. i have bought so many baby girl shoes and only one pair of baby boy. i could do so much with knowing...so much; i love organizing and this is a little bit of torture.

latest and greatest on this unknown baby love of mine:
-since 24 weeks the kicking has been out of control!
- gained total of 11 lbs, which is not bad at 25 weeks!
- measure 3.5 inches less than with caedmon at this time around my belly
- gained 5 lbs less than with Caedmon at this time
- eating healthy and well, not over hungry anymore, just content
- sore at the end of all days, lots of stretching going on
- still no stretch marks
- 26 weeks today, baby had hiccups last night for the first time
- large "out of belly" movements happening as well as tight "painful" movements atleast once or twice a day
- SO MANY braxton hicks contractions alllll the time! didn't have that with caedmon
- livin' up the summer, this baby is getting sun and we've been wicked active
- belly receives lots of "rhaspberries" on it from big bro caedmon
- we've been watching TONS of 24 and falling asleep on the couch most nights from exhaustion.
- but, less tired than last month
- picked a few more boy names, now we have 4 boy names we like! it'll be hard to decide if we have a boy what name to use.
- still holding strong to our girl name and hoping all the people who are having girls don't use it.

;)

daddy's day recap

2010-06-30T07:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2091922&id=73100395&l=fe7595cd91

check out our father's day pictures.

This was our BEST father's day to date. AN AWESOME DAY!

Ryan and i kept saying, "wow, what a great day! It couldn't be better" and it was true.

The day started with our mornign worship service, caedmon sat in church and was a very good boy.

The only thing ryan didn't know was tha tht enight before i coudln't sleep - out of excitement! i felt like it was CHRISTMAS! I bought him a Mac and was so excited to show him! It was hiding in the computer desk that we really never use so i was so anxious he'd randomly open it that one day. so, after church i gave him his gifts. Caedmon and i started a new tradition. Caedmon is going to make a scrapbook page each year and we'll put father's day pics on it after the fact. he did a great job on it!

Then i gave him a gift bag with an I-pod touch. i told him, I got it for free! it came with THIS!!!! and then, i opened the door to the compute cabinent and he was shocked!

after the "unveiling" we had a great lunch and went to Toy Story 3 with Caedmon. A GREAT MOVIE! loved it!

we relaxed, played outside, ate great food, and just enjoyed our family. We're so blessed to have ryan as a great dad in our lives. he's an amazing father to caedmon and will be to this baby as well. I am constantly amazed at how awesome he is with caedmon, how he PLAYS and makes the most of every day! GOD IS GOOD!

I pray God blesses ryan more this year than ever!

be impressed

2010-06-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

seriously. you can be envious and impressed by this blog post.

haha, just kidding. i'm just so excited about the last 4 days! i've had the best long "weekend" it was great not having to work and i got so much accomplished.

just to name a few things:

1. finally got some sun. swam and played in the pool with caedmon at our friend's the Meitzner's

2. relaxed

3. organized, even my underware drawer got organized! i have a list of more things i want to clean out/sort before this summer is through but i got a chunk of it done.

4. began work on VBS

5. created a new logo for our church to launch our new website.

6. chose paint and painted caedmon's new room, the superhero room as it used to be affectionatly called. he will get this room on his bday or a few days before when we're actually celebrating his bday

7. hit some awesome garage sales, got baby girl clothes. justification: i have nothing girly. i have tons of boy stuff, it only cost me a few bucks, there IS a 50% chance i am having a girl, if i don't, i know a million people who are having children or will have children in the next year or so :) so there! hahah

8. got a bookshelf for the baby room that match the furniture perfectly, only $5! got some maternity shorts which were a must and a top for practically nothing!

9. went out for breakfast with my boys, had a blast!

10. took down and cleaned all my mini blinds in the upstairs, and put them back up. success

11. paint is 100% complete in caed's new room

12. organized my computer desk

13. only spent a total of $60 this weekend which is AWESOME for us, including all the garage sales, two trips to gary's *ice cream place across the street hahah, had to try the new JAVABERRY(coffee ice cream with rhaspberries), out to eat for breakfast, and trip to walmart.

14. scrapbooked! got a few pages done that i have been working on for months.

15. took some maternity pics with the assistance of my awesome "photographer want-to-be" hub

16. watched a total of 14 episodes of "24" only the best show ever! why did no one ever make me watch this before!!!! it's awesome

17. grocery shopped because it's going to be "sandwhich week" at the reveleys. trying new kinds of yummmy sandwhiches! can't wait. (groceries don't count in the $60 spent)

18. planned caedmon's 3rd bday party, which i didn't plan on doing, but what the heck. he deserves it he's the best!

19. scored a twin bed for caedmon's room. at the present we only had a metal frame, box spring and matress - now we're all set: FREE!

20. worshiped God! that was the best, so i saved it for last! church is looking more encouraging these days which is great!

lots of catching up to do

2010-06-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

lots has happened since my last post

1. ryan and caedmon went to arkansas! what a week! i was so worn out when they came home and they were too! they had a good time, but were happy to be back to the North and their own home. i did so much while they were gone.

monday - hung out at wagners

tuesday - scrappin' and out to dinner with girls

wednesday - haircut and had my ss class over for dinner and wiiiiiiiiiii sports resort

thursday - BIGGEST DAY: ikea, shopping in woburn for random things, carettas with laura, and more shopping, and scrapbooking

friday - BEACH with hales and laura, errands, picking up the boys in the worst boston traffic on a friday evening.

saturday - PLAY day with caedmon, josh's graduation party, etc.

sunday - a GREAT FATHER's DAY! (that'll be a post in itself)

i did wear myself out while they were gone. i somewhat enjoyed the silence, but mostly missed the sounds of drumming and play in the background. i will probably never have another week like this for a while so i did try to enjoy. i'm just happy we're all back safe and sound together!

only pic of this week: the morning the boys left

joys of this week

2010-06-12T17:34:00.001-07:00

I always say Caedmon is my "joy-bringer" and boy is he ever! this week here are some joys our family shared!enjoying the first bloom of summer. gorgeous!

cravings for mommy. this week i just didn't want to eat normal food, or normal meals. i cooked food every night for ryan, but just had no desire to enjoy or eat it. so, ryan was so sweet to run out for all my desires: hummus, pita chips, yougurt and "just bunches", motzarella sticks, ice cream of course. thanks, honey!

celebrating his "sleeping accomplishments" with a completed sticker chart reward - BUZZ LIGHTYEAR costume. caedmon has been sleeping so much better and only waking up a few moments a night and staying down for almost 12 hours!!!! he's been sleeping in and adjusted well to all of our "sleep training" the last few months. we still go to bed a little anxious at what may happen but usually optomistic.

just about you - baby!

2010-06-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

22 weeks pregnant this week.
here is a pic of me with Gracie Mae ( 3 months 2 weeks old), my friend Laurel's 2nd child. She is precious and makes me think about my no. 2 coming soon.

so, i am constantly fighting the "second child syndrome" of having less pictures, less notes, less special moments with my second child than my first. the pregnancy is already so much teh same, that is doesn't seem like it's "different" or "ultra special" but YES! this is HUGE! i get to be pregnant and give birth to a CHILD...some one God has entrusted me to raise and teach and love. so, man...no second child syndrome here. this baby is going to be just as loved and spoiled and photographed and talked about...

lately with my baby:
everyone is saying, "wow, you've popped" and i guess i have. i don't have daily pics of this progress but i do have weekly ones and i am totally excited about seeing how baby reveley has changed.

this child LOVES food. every time i eat, its immmmmmediatly reacting with jumps and bumps.

this child is coming at God's perfect time. i have submitted to that and have decided to take all control out of the situation, just like i did the first time. it is tempting to ask to be induced or have them "check" me at 37 weeks on, but NO! i have decided that i am going to ask to be "left alone" until the time comes and see what happens. i was very tempted to try other things because my family will be here the week before the baby is due, but i will just wait and see what Godhas planned.

I was worried that this baby would come in the middle of the school year and throw everything off and i would "let everyone down" because i am having a baby. but it is not that at all. i am bringing a blessing to my life, our life, and all our firend's lives. plus, who knows what joy this child will bring the people around it. i don't want to worry about how it'll effect "work" but how GREATLY it will impact others and the time i take raising this child in the first few weeks is not worth pushing it and returning to work early. this is one time i can be selfish in taking my time with my child and I AM DETERMINED TO.

boy or girl, i DON't care. surprisingly i don't care at all. i am just excited for a baby. i do hope it's cuddly this time, unlike my firstborn! hahah, but i am so happy with either there are so many reasons i would want a brother for caedmon and so many i would want a sister. so, i am extremely excited to be surprised on the day he/she comes to join our family.

tired. yes, i'm still extremely tired. can't forget that. hoping by baby 3 i will not have time to think about being tired.

yes, we want more kids than just 2. another story for another time.

i am so ready to just hold and love this child and even to breastfeed and cuddle and heck - even change diapers again.

:)

6 great years - happy anniversary to me and ryan!

2010-06-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

our 6th anniversary would be an eventful one. whenever you're juggling a graduation weekend, a 2 year old, a pregnancy, bridal showers, and more - all while trying to keep traditions and LOVE alive!
6 things:
1. our gift to eachother. never thought i'd be this excited, but we got a new vaccuum! love it! it's a little heavy, but works amazingly well and is AWESOME! thanks, ry! xo
2. one tradition, that we hope to keep up is going to kimball's farm for ice cream with caedmon. we did this on our 4th year anniversary. i got carmel cashew chip ice cream tooo good! caedmon didn't really "hang" with us, but was a little overtired and so our time at kimball's was a little bit of a bummer.
3. this guy. i have said it a million times, but he is sooooooooo amazing. i never thought i'd love him more than the day i married him, but we love eachother wayyyyyyyyyyy more some how. ryan makes me happy everyday. He helps me be a better person and mom. he encourages and loves me and makes me feel beautiful. i'm so in love more today than ever!
4. me, knew we wanted kids, but didn't see my 6 year anniversary as pregnant. i look so preggo! i'm popping out and not looking forward to getting bigger and bigger. but, i am looking forward to have our family and love grow more! i do look so worn out and tired in this pic, but that is how life has been lately. however, i'm happy content and thankful
5. kiss.
6. reminisce. 6 years ago....the best day ever. we had a beautiful wedding, with wonderful weather and amazing friends/family.

happy anniversary Ryan, i love you and our life together!!!!

quirk

2010-05-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

my son is quirky. he thinks he needs to stand on his tip-toes. he's "milkin'" it, making everything ask us, "what's wrong with caedmon's foot? is he alright?" even when we had a babysitter and he event crawled around the whole night. he's hillarious. because everything is fine, he just thinks its fun. so quirky.

weeeeeeekend

2010-05-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

We sure know how to have a weekend.

between "the play" as i have referred to it for a while. The Secret Garden is now over -thankfully! i'm glad that this weekend is over even though it was all fun and all good.

4 big weekend things:

1. the secret garden: Thursday and 2 performances Friday - I worked about 20 extra hours this week because of the play, but i was proud of the set that i designed and how it turned out and worked for the show. i was proud of the kids and their hard work. see photos

2. photographed a wedding with laura. see her blog a few of my pictures are on it. it was a beautiful day, beautiful wedding, wonderful family. and it was LAURA'S BDAY! I had fun taking pictures of laura and will post them to show you what she did on her 26th b-day :)

http://www.laurawagnerphotography.com/blog

3. Laura's b-day celebration. We celebrated laura's bday with friends at Salvatori's in Lawrence. a very yummy and nice restaurant. we enjoyed the evening while caedmon enjoyed a babysitter. Pictures here and more on facebook. afterward we went back to our place for a delicious "spaghetti and meatballs cheesecake" from michelle - AWESOME!

4. LOST FINALE! Holy cow....so much went into these six years of committment to lost! so many theories and ideas, but i was only somewhat satisfied with the finale. i'm glad its over and i just want to re-watch everythign and read as much as i can to find out more behind the vaugeness of the finale. but all in all, i was satisified and entertained! Everyone watched at our hosue and we had peanuts and pretzels - airplane food. nothing exciting except the LOCKE AND JACK SHOWDOWN!!!!

coming this week: American idol finale, caedmon and i actually attending one of Ry's softball games, maybe going to the beach, and hopefully dinner with the wagners. This weekend we may start painting the playroom and getting ready to re-do that - SUMMER IS COMING! Memorial day we're unsure of our plans, but if the weather is nice -we'll be outside.

i haven't been feeling very well. not sure if its pregnancy or just pure fatigue from all the activities going on. praying i feel 100% for my half day tomorrow and can hit the beach with caedmon and laura!

my baby love!

2010-05-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

My ultrasound was May 24th - so awesome! Caedmon and Ryan joined me. The goal was to not find out and we succeeded. the ultrasound tech was very sweet and i enjoyed my time just watching out little miracle. Everything was perfect. Ryan and I both felt "girly" feelings. His/her legs were all over the place, feet crossed, legs over head, adorable! The baby was moving a ton during the u/s kickin' me and jumping around. It was such a different experience than with caedmon. With him it was like, "WOW! i've never seen this before. HOW AMAZING!" with this baby it was more, "technical" it was great to see everything working well and i was amazed at all the bdily functions and forms. I loved seeing the little profile and when he/she turned their face at me.
Caedmon didn't last long in the ultrasound and didn't really care, Ryan was cute and excited about baby :) i felt bad because he had to discipline caedmon and take him out to go home. i did the rest of the u/s by myself and was able to talk a lot to the technition. I told her our baby name ideas and when i said the girl name she said, "OH! THAT IS BEATUFIUL! PERFECT!" ahhaa, that kinda maybe gave it away. hahahaha just kidding, we're probably having another boy and i'm so cool with that too. The tech said she wasn't sure, but had an idea of what the baby was.

meet your sister or brother! :) Caedmon swears its a girl and her name will be Princess Jasmine.

Hillarious, he even told the U/S tech that!

more baby pictures to come, i'll have to take a 20 week shot. my belly is out there and i'm feeling well. still have only gained about 3 or 4 lbs so i'm happy about that. life is good, GOD IS BETTER!

week of may 10-16, 2010 in pictures

2010-05-17T17:46:00.000-07:00

Tuesday: a surprise bubble tea from my boys! so awesome! i love it when they come and visit me at work and surprise me.
All week: caedmon has a new obsession; TARZAN. he was playing tarzan all week long, inside and out. he pounds his chest and calls daddy the "bad monkey" and mommy is none-other-than, Jane. he thinks he looks like tarzan when he puts his hands by his face. so funny.

Wed: my half day of work is wednesday so i put caedmon in DC and got a pedicure with my friend April who is pregnant too. She is due 5 weeks ahead of me and we've had fun working together on the River Run and sports program at school. she's having a little boy and i'm so excited for her! her older son is 13! so its all new again for her! we had a great time relaxing and getting pedicures!

friday: caed got a box of toys and clothes from grandma reveley. we only let him have one of the toys because he didn't know there were like 5 in the box! so, he loved his new zurg. even during time out while playing outside, he was happy cause zurg was next to him. i love his eyes in this pictures - so "glistening" and beautiful.

Caedmon reading comics Sunday morning before church. he really loves comic books and knows all the heroes and villians. i just make sure that ryan doesn't let him read anything too advanced :)

can i just breathe....

2010-05-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

needing time to breathe and relax after this weekend/week/month!
Its only May 16th and i feel like i've lived 4 months of time this month! May is always like that for our family, and i know its approaching and i should plan better, go to bed earlier, ect. maybe next year i'll read this and do that before it hits...maybe.
but this week was just a long week at work, so much follow up and so many plans for the year ending. we officially have 12 days of school left for the 2009-2010 school year! that's wild.
my beloved boss and principal is retiring. today was her retirement party so i spent much time this week making favors and preparing for that. it was a nice day and a real honor to her. afterward friends came by for food and "cornhole" (bean bags). a beautiful day and though tiring, very fun.
this weekend we've had a LOT of baby movement! Thursday night the baby about jumped out of me! Today i have had small movements all day and a few bigger ones as well. This is about the time in my pregnancy with caedmon that the same thing kept happening. I feel like this pregnancy is sooo much the same I must have a boy in there again, but you never know! i feel the same at each stage. I am almost 19 weeks along and on the 24th is the ultrasound!!!!!!
saturday was also productive i worked on the set for the coming play this week. I spent about 4 hours with some very helpful teens and adults "finishing" up the set. I have a TON of work to do on it this week before the show on Thursday, but i'm preparing myself for a wild week.
God is good and always gives me the energy and inspiration to finsih the things i need and still find time to love my little guy and my big guy and the little one growing too.
looking forward:
june 2nd; last day
june 5th; oour 6th anniversary
june 14-18; ryan and caed go away to ARK and i get the house to myself for 5 days and 4 nights. i willllllllllllllll miss them. but i will get a ton done and relax a lot too!
summer schedule: mon, tues, wed each week and thurs-sun off! that'll be AaaaaMAZING!
july; caedmons second bday and summer vacation with the whole fam!

2 day - mother's day

2010-05-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

i had a two day mother's day - mostly because my husband is awesome and loves to spoil me. seriously, i wonder how i get this blessed. he's toooooooooo good. if you all knew how much ryan did for caedmon and i on a DAILY...HOURLY basis, you'd be amazed. :)
so, saturday i had a very nice day with my little boy. we celebrated his sleeping (we have had some successful nights lately) with a "white chocolate candy bar at target" per his request. he's so goofy but he knows what he wants! then we read books, played together, and spent a lot of time together, ran errands as a family, and then DATE NIGHT WITH MY BOYS! we went to a real "mommy daddy restaurant" with caedmon and he was a joy, PRIYA INDIA. our favorite -indian food!Caedmon is pretty sure he has a baby in his belly too! His is usually a brother and mine is a sister some days and a brother others. i know my stomach looks massive in this pics, but its not that big, i just ate a ton! hahahah

THis mothers day: I woke up to pancakes and a sweet card along with a subscription to a digital photography magazine. my camera i'm still counting as my gift for mother's day and our anniversary. so i was happy to get this gift as well. church was nice, including the dedication of Gracie Mae Mabon, our friend's newest addition. she's adorable! caedmon was a wild man today thought, so i can refreshingly say ryan did most of the parenting work today while i relaxed. i took a nap this afternoon and got to skype into Elliot's 1st b-day party! he was soooooooooo cute! i'm so so so thankful for skype especially during family events! i'm also thankful to be almost 18 weeks pregnant and feeling well! caedmon went to bed early and i've gotten to play around with photos and upload videos.

Being a mom has really been something that i never expected it would be - FUN! I always thought it'd be: busy, a burden, stressful, tiring, trying, wearing, worrying, ect. but, i am so thankful that God has changed my perspective by 180!!!!!! i'm in love with being a mom and it's just so fun! yes, there are times its all of those things, but i would NEVER define it that way. i love being a mom, it's hard to imagine that one day i thought i'd just want to be a cool aunt and never have kids. i really was made to do this. since being pregnant with caedmon and having him i feel like i've come closer to my purpose and who i truly am. i love it and i'm so happy to continue this mothering journey this year. only 5 more months until baby 2 arrives. I love "her" already. yes, i'm saying i think it's a girl. i actually already bought a few girl things. BUT: I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE ANOTHER BOY! I always thought a boy should have a brother cause a girl has close friends, but a boy needs a brother. i know it works both ways, but anyway....i have a girly feeling about this baby! :) we'll see in 5 months!

my mom: well, she's amazing. during labor i said to her, while she held my sweaty hand, "thank you for going through this and giving birth to me, i love you. " tears in her eyes, she said, "ok, you're welcome!" but, its more than that. Mom does so much and i'll tell you one thing i love about her recently - she texts. she's always there now. to complain to, to celebrate little every day things with, ect. she's so fun and makes me want to be a better mom.

i have a few friends, my sister, and sister-in-law all celebrating their first mother's day! i hope they had a great day and i love you guys!

the rest of my pictures are on facebook!
enjoy your day and thank your mom for all she's done for you!

Unedited - Photoshoots May 2010 Julie, Hannah, and Emily

2010-05-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to take pictures of my favorite teenager - Julie T. She turned 16 last month and I wanted to capture her fun side! she's a beautiful girl inside and out! She talented, funny, a wonderful Christian girl...i could go on and on. Enjoy....

After taking pictures of Julie we met up with her Nieces and took some dance pictures. They all dance at the same studio and have recitals coming up. Hannah G (older) and Emily G (younger) were so adorable and LOVED the camera!

I love getting practice, now i just need a mac and can get to editing....hummmm before Baby 2 comes hopefully!

this week....in a nutshell

2010-05-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

this week in photographs

best attitude so far

2010-04-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

so, things have been moving up hill since my last post.
The day after i posted, i got sick. i wanted to post,

" Friday April 23, my day today: throw up, diarrhea, throw up...ect. body aches, dead tired."

and that's how my day ended that day - 36 hours in bed with a virus. didn't feel well at all. and was total waste.

but, things are uphill.

i am feeling so great and my last dr. apointment was great, yesterday.

www.ccariverrun.org

my life is pretty consumed by the CCA RIVER RUN. It is a huge event that i've been a chairperson for since january. it's the biggest fundraiser our school has ever done. it's a 7k walk/run and post-run family party. coordinating registrations, the days events, volunteers, marketing, etc has been me and a team of others. it's been purely exhasting but i know it will be so rewarding. prayers are already paying off - we have begun recieving donations and have gotten a good amount of registrations, and the weather is going to be BEAUTIFUL!

oh, and i got some good deals shopping today - two new maternity pants. one for $10 off and other for only 99 cents!!!!

i'm pumped...and i'm surprised how i have had a great attitude this week as well. i am embracing this event instead of letting it stress me out - this is a change for me

on top of it all: i have an incredible husband and son. i know i've mentioned this before. but - how dang cute!!!!

road trip!

2010-04-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

Details of our April Vacation Road Trip:
woke up 7:00 a.m. Saturday April 17th
Caedmon woke up happy and said, "we going on vacation?!" he was ready to rock and roll and happy to jump in the car.
out the door and down the road at 8:07 a.m.

First set-back: turned around at 8:29 after ryan realized he forgot his wallet.

back on 495S at 8:50 a.m....starting over.

Car Mileage 17,870 at the start - on our way to Pittsburgh, about a 9.5 hour drive.

Ate at the famous Primanti Brother's sandwhich shop. On food network and referred to us by our buddy Fred PErkins. Loved it. the best sandwhich on the trip, the second best was a real turkey and mushroom melt. we ate gooooooooooooooood on this trip.

Got lost around the city of pittsburgh because of road construction. Arrived at hotel at 8:15 p.m. and asleep about 10:15
Woke up and skipped church sunday...i know i know...
Drove to our first real destination: MASON, OH

Arrived at Great wolf lodge (www.greatwolf.com) at 2 p.m. and hit the waterpark! it was awesome. caedmon was in love and we had a blast. it was probably the best day of our trip. Took a break, shopped around MASON, got dinner, and back to the waterpark.

Total hours in the car: 15 hours

Monday April 19: Destination, Petersburg Kentucky - the Creation Museum (www.creationmuseum.org) This was something on our "To do in 5 years" list. It was awesome, and something Ryan had really wanted to do. It was a great testimony to our faith our history and above all GOD. it was awesome. we enjoyed it all. unfortunatly, it was a little "advanced" for caedmon.

Left the museum about 3 p.m. and went to Florence, KY to take rest. This pregnant momma was getting tired! Caedmon watched a movie and ryan worked on seminary work. then, we went out again. Ate at famous dave's bbq....delicious!

Tuesday April 20: left hotel at 9:30 in route for the Cincinnati Zoo. It was a beautiful day and the zoo was nice. Unfortunatley, it wasn't caedmon's favorite. he's just not that into it, but he really liked comparing the animals to the characters in Madagascar.

We left the zoo earlier than expected, about 1p.m. and got on the road

Ryan got pulled over at 3ish and got a speeding ticket...from here it was pretty much downhill.

long story short: horrible pizza dinner which lead to Caedmon projectile vomitting all over the car at 9:30 pm., stopping our road trip way early for the night. we had to stop at the nearest hotel and clean out puke from our son, his carseat, and our whole car....whoa. a testing parenting situation for sure! we made it through.

Tuesday April 22nd7.5 hours left, and a sick boy...we thought we were in for it. but....he was AMAZING! he was sooooooooo good and didnt get sick and just watched movies and slept. it was a great rest of the ride home. the best part was arriving here and Laura brought us a homemade dinner! she's the best!

so, all in all our trip to OH, KY, PA was great and we are so happy we went! we enjoyed it and made the best of the "bumps in the road".

final mileage: 19766...total: 1896
total hours: 32 hours 25 seconds :)
total fun: IMMMMMMMMMEASURABLE!

14 weeks...almost gone.

2010-04-16T10:30:00.001-07:00

I'm 14 weeks pregnant which doesn't sound like very far along.

somethings about this pregnancy so far:

1. extreme fatigue

2. have no idea what boy name i'd use

3. less "excitment" than with caedmon but more readiness. i am excited, but not nervous excited. just ready to see what life with two is like

4. love peanut butter and jelly

5. hate meat, unless i don't cook it

6. lost my desire to cook

7. haven't gained anything, lost some weight

8. felt the baby a few times already, coooool

9. already had two little ultrasounds! that has been fun. ready for the big on in May, even though we're not finding out i can't wait to see more of our baby

10. thinking of caedmon as a big brother has been weird! but fun!

11. haven't boughten one baby thing.

12. starting to buy diapers sooooooooooon. need ot stock up. if you have any great deals or see any online coupons, ect. let me know! we'll be stockin' up ahead of time!

14. pretty sure it's another boy, but would be estatic with a daughter. it would be the first grandaughter too. but, another boy would be great and we'd be all set.

15. plan on re-doing the room after the baby is born, for its first christmas present.

16. LOVE my baby and my baby's daddy so much! xoxo

ok, now back to "me"

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

yeah, my last post was annoying. sorry.

anyway....some great things have happened this week:
1. my son is back to normal. he's amazing. of course. and hillarious. awesome. cute. etc.
i'm so glad he's feeling better and the temper tantrums have stopped.
2. we have decided to go on vacation. we need it and we'll make the best of it. yes we will! we will even beg, steal, and bride to make it happen with a 2.5 year old strong willed man on our hands. but we'll do it and be beter for it.
3. my husband totallllllllllllllllllllllllllllly spoiled me with a brand new camera body! i'm pumped, and again, must mention - spoiled. this camera is out of my knowledge range and price range, but my heart was on it and he knew i wanted it. it's nice to be "pursued" still by him. love you ryan!!!
4. did i mention i got a new camera!!!!!!!! i'm obsessed! full HD video and 18.1 megapixels baby!
5. feeling a little better myself. still have a sinus infection.
6. work has gone by so fast this week - praise God. took my first sick day all year on monday. laid around and felt like crap, but i needed it. good thing i did. it helped.
7. got my pictures taken by the amazing mrs. wagner www.laurawagnerphotography.com/blogspot she'll post some soon i guess. i will too.
8. ate dinner at la carretta's - only the best mexican in souther new hampshire. not exactly sure how that rates in greatness of food, but it's awesome.
9. God is good.He just is. i love to remind myself and stay on track with him.
10. i need to think of a boy name for this baby. if it is a boy i need to come up with something good to "compete" with the name caedmon or atleast "hold it's own."

let's be honest

2010-04-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

this has been a really tough week.
i actually don't want to go into detials, but i do want to cover some things becuase getting it out will make me feel better...i think.

this picture pretty much sums up how caedmon was from saturday until tuesday.

- temper tantrums suck. he had hours of tantrums this weekend. weather brought on by his sickness and chnage of schedule for the fact that he was spoiled all weekend with my parents in town or whatever it was. it still was. he was even horrible for our babysitter on friday night. sorry, jen! i feel so bad. there was a point on saturday i just cried and said, i can't do it. i called my parents and wept. it was too much for me after feeling sick myself and being overwhelmed. this parenting thing, even though i make it look easy (hahah) isn't. let's be honest.

-i feel like CRAP! yes, i do. i stil do. feb i felt sick and tired the whole month. march i finally got to doing better and now, again. i have pink eye, and body aches, and a bad virus. i'm just praising God its not the flu. but, to be honest. i do feel bad. i fake it and try to make it through getting all my "chores" and everyday things done, but i just can't. i have crashed so hard everynight i actually thought caedmon was sleeping well! ahhahah, again. no, ryan was just getting up and taking care of him and i was dead asleep.

-honestly (a good one) easter sunday was great at our church. i was moved. it has been a while since in that place i felt the spirit of God. it inspired me and gave me hope. along with my husbands great message this week. i am thankful for HOPE and have a greater desire to pass hope onto others. i need to do. i know i just NEED to do it and not just talk about it.

-let's be honest. its sad when your whole family lives far away. that's all.

-i haven't completely been able to enjoy my pregnancy yet. beacuse i've been tired and worn out and busy. i feel guilty that i don't dote on this baby like i did with caedmon. i do think about him/her and care and love him/her. (see i'm justifying again...) but i just feel like i haven't been able to go "crazy" over this baby yet.

-let's be honest - should we go on vacation this weekend? we were supposed to go to cincinnati a 14 hour drive for vacation sat-wed of this coming week. we are not sure what we'll do. with caedmon's tantrums (by the way, they subsided today and he was an angel) and my yuckiness, and the like there of...we're not sure what to do....is it stupid to think that everything will be okay on the ride and the trip if they aren't even okay at home?

-ahhhhhhhhh!

Because He Lives...we can celebrate Easter!

2010-04-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

Easter was very different this year.
We had my parents here with us, which was GREAT! but we didn't have my the Balenos with us (my aunt/uncle and cousins).
info:
Thursday - took a day off of work! mom and dad got into town and back to our house about 11ish. that was great to have the whole day. caedmon was feeling good and happy they were here. we played outside a little and ate good food.
Friday - Good Friday, service at 3 p.m. Caedmon was feeling a little not under the weather, but he kept on moving. my dad did a lot of work around our house, made me an awesome shoe rack and did a lot of other odds and ends.
sickness started, caedmon was up that night with a fever :(
Saturday - Fever dwindles, and we take him to the easter egg hunt. don't blame us and call us bad parents for bringing him around other kids. the hunt was in our backyard with 20 kids! no way we could keep him away. he played and had funand shook the sickness for a while. He felt somewhat better that afternoon, and then crashed again. wasn't feeling well and went ot bed early. fever fever fever...all night. i was up with him in his bed, changing his diarrhea pants and bed sheets :(
SUNDAY - EASTER ryan had sunrise service at 6:30 and i met him for breakfast after at about 7:15 because caed was up but sick. we knew he woudln't be joining us for easter. such a bummer, his little outfit is just hanging on the closet door and will make an appearance on mother's day.
11 a.m. - CHURCH WAS GREAT! OUR GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE! Ryan spoke the truth and was really filled with the spirit. it was a great service! My dad joined me while caedmon stayed home with mom.
thankfully, after church he got to feeling better, played outside and the fever broke! Praise the Lord!

Dad, mom, and I made a great meal - the BEST CARROT CAKE EVER and amazing everything else. to have my parents here was a true blessing.
we're just pryaing caedmon is feeling better tnoight and SLEEPS and doesn't need to go to the doc tomorrow. pray for our little man.

Announcements :-)

2010-03-31T17:00:00.001-07:00

Here are some of the ways we've decided to tell everyone about Baby Reveley!
We're so excited to finally share the news with you all and are blessed by God with this gift!
Pray for this little baby and for this adjustment to our family, we are thankful!

We found out about Baby Reveley2 on Feb 8th and were so estatic!

first ultrasound after my first dr. visit, march 5, 2010. caedmon was there. all we got to see was a little blob with a heartbeat. that was good enough for me! 8 weeks!

second ultrasound, March 29th, just for the fun of it! 12 weeks along and the dr. surprised me with an ultrasound. used this picture to tell everyone on facebook!how we told everyone at work. I set this on my desk and co-workers who stopped by took an egg. they got a treat and saw the message, "Announcing Baby Reveley hatching this October" So many people were excited (it doesn't hurt that i work with 95% women who all love children and babies!) I had two very memorable reactions from lucy and michelle! they were awesome!

my boy favorite quotes from this week

2010-03-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

some cute things that caedmon has done lately:

I know i've mentioned that he's starting to "read" here is proof. While peeing the other day, he said, "Mommy, does that say Kohl's" I said, "like Kohl's the store?" he replied, "YEP!"
picture to prove he's not crazy. It wasn't exactly KOHLS but it was sure close!
Prayer at dinner time tonight when Laura and Ryan were here:
"Thank you Jesus, for this day. Thank you for mommy. Please help Caedmon sleep in his new bed all night. Thank you for this food and bless our body. In name, amen."

as Ryan Wagner said, "that was just pretty precious!" we agreed.

After the prayer he said, "thank you mommy for making dinner." He has been doing that lately, following in his daddy's footsteps :)

Also funny, in arguement this week:
Daddy: "Absolutely no!" Caedmon: "hummm, absolutely YES!"

On skype with wes and grandma and great-grandma:
"Grandma you coming to my house? you going to the airport, taking an airplane? Okay, you can come now"

Hilllllllllllllarious moment pictured below:
Green lantern of course!
Tonight before bed:

Caedmon:"I'm not afraid." Daddy: "Not afraid of what?" Caedmon: "I'm just afraid because God is with me."

In regards to filling up his sticker chart.

Mommy: "If you fill up your sticker chart and stay in your own bed all night we'll take you to Target to get a prize." Caedmon: "ohhhhhhhhh! I'll go to target and get chocolate?!" Mommy: You want chocolate? or how about a toy Caedmon: "ohhhhhhhhhhh, just chocolate and a drink, from that other coffeehouse." (speaking of starbucks)

and according to caedmon everything we ask is, "no problem!" and Jelly Beans are called, "jelly balls!"

more exciting caedmon comments to come i'm sure. he's always crackin' us up!!!!
tonight he's trying out his new big boy bed for the first time! we're hoping it will help with sleeping!!!!

70 in boston

2010-03-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

BOSTON 3/20/10 caedmon was so excited to "go to boston" he actually staying in his car seat for over a half an hour waiting for us to pack up and get ready to leave the house. he didn't nap on the way there and was wide-eyed at the city. he got so spoiled! ice cream, balloons, pizza, parks, and play!!!!
what a great day with my boys! the best!

WHAT A WEEK!

2010-03-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

probably one of the best weeks ever!

Monday - I actually didn't have an insane day at work! that was a first in a long time. I felt so happy and chill and not stressed in the least bit! i got home and had a nice meal with my boys. The thing that could make this week tough was knowing that we were still IN FOR IT with the sleeping, but even through sleepless nights, this week was great!

Tuesday - SUN IS SHINING! the sun was up and wasn't going anywhere from this point on. just knowing it was sunny outside made my day. another not crazy day at work and wait for it...THE BIRTH OF MY BEST FRIEND'S BABY!!!!!! and....wait for it....I GOT TO SKYPE RIGHT INTO THE DELIVERY ROOM AFTER SHE WAS BORN!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome to the World Clary Jane TenBrink! I am so excited for this little girl and so happy for her mommy. also, i'm extremely proud to be best friends with this woman - she is amazing! delievered a 10 lb 2 oz baby vaginally after many hours and being 7 days overdue! GO MEGHAN JANE! Here are some of my first glimpses of this beautiful little girl i already love so much!
Wednesday: Half day of work and shopping with Laura in search of great gifts for Clary. It was a gorgeous day, we got strawberry icee drinks and relaxed. http://www.hm.com/us/press/pressreleases/__prfashion.nhtml?pressreleaseid=548 Hit H&M baby section and that made me extremely happy and i know Meghan will love it!

Thursday: When i got home this is what i pulled into and it made me so happy. we played outside for a while and went to the chiropractor and played outside more! Caedmon is loving springtime!

Friday: another good day at work, including getting out a bit and doing some distribution for the River Run. Got home and ran around outside with caedmon, did a little shopping, and Laura came over for dinner and hanging out/photography stuff.

Saturday: BOSTON and then caedmon went to bed on his own and i got to scrapbook and watch a movie by myself! SOOOOOOO GOOOD! I'll do a whole post about this!

Sunday: church was good, sunday school was good, I ACTUALLY GOT TO SCRAPBOOK! and we played all afternoon. i cleaned out closets and started doing some stuff in the attic. very productive and great day!

here it is...

2010-03-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

so, i have long complained about caedmon's sleeping. here it is, this will show you all just how bad. and if you don't want to read it - no problem. this is for my own personal archives so someday when he is like 15 and won't get outta bed i can read this to him and throw the guilt trip on him

- I vividly remember from birth to age 5 weeks that caedmon would sleep for 5 hours and eat, and sleep 5 hours more. he always knew his days from nights, and always behaved well. He was a star. It was better than expected. he slept in our bed during this time. we LOVED it and cherished that time. we now kinda regret it, but at the same time don't. it was special and the damage or good is done.

- Caedmon started sleeping horribly at his first growth spurt about 3 months old. he needed to eat so much and was in our bed all the time. it was draining because i was back at work and i just gave in. We started putting him in his crib during these times, but he was always held at night. by about 7 months when we still weren't ever sleeping, he suprised us with one great night! that was the last time that first year he slept more than 4 hours in a row. we were sleep deprived, but very much in love. he always ended up in our bed because we would wear down after trying to lay him down constantly in his bed. we tried every trick in the book and it never worked.

-At age 10 months we did the "cry it out" he threw himself outta his bed. enough said.

- At age 12 months, he was doing so much better and sleeping a little more. but, he cut down to one nap! ryan no longer held him for this nap, but it usually only occured if he was in the car and then in his carseat. progress? maybe

- at age 13 months we started a strick, 2 hour long bedtime routine. it included READING READING AND READING! this reading has greatly benefitted him and we love this time together. then we would rock him and breastfeed him for a few minutes.

-at age 15 months i quit breastfeeding. that helped in some ways. he quit very easily and that was nice, but he still didn't sleep well.

NO MORE HOLDING FOR NAPS

- june he got a big boy bed. he did okay staying in it. But, we still constantly struggle with keeping him in it all night. he loves the big boy bed and ALWAYS naps there, after falling asleep in the car. he can't fall asleep on his own and still can't.

- for this year since he's been 2 nothing has really changed. he just resisted sleep at a constant rate and seems to require less and less. he only usually gets 9 total hours after waking up so much.

-since feb 2010 he has had an earlier bedtime, which has been decent, but given rise to more night wakings. the books just don't work on this kid.

-he got a sleeping buddy, LUNT from the Veggie Tales Pirates...hasn't worked.

a typical night:

7:10 p.m., bring him up stairs, or goes to his room after his 6:45 bath

7:10-7:40 READ

7:40 , last potty time and wind down time

7:50 or 8, lights out and he usually falls right asleep. (expection: last night this routine took 2 hours 45 minutes.)

8-1:30 sleep

1:30 cry, wake up, daddy goes in to soothe and he's back down.

3:30 or 4:40, cry, scream, run into our room, goes potty. cries and fights until daddy lets him sleep in his sleeping bag on our floor. success? kinda

(option 2: 3:30-5:30 CRY, SCREAM "NO" CRY MORE YELLLLLLLL FIGHT KICK, get spanked, yes, sad but true, MORE CRYING! two straight hours until he finally crashes on our floor.)

on the floor sleeps until about 6 or longer

comes in our bed a few minutes until we get outta bed together and are up for the day

Nap anytime between 10:45-2:00 depending on if he wants one or if he got sleep the night before or not.

that is our life right now. we are struggling with it, and working to have self control and not be exhuasted. its tough. if you think of us pray, PLEEEEEEAD with God to let our son sleep! he has successfully ruined a few vacations and we are hesitating taking our april vacation because of this problem. he has a problem. I didn't outline it, but we have tried many things. we'll be posting a sticker chart tonight and hoping for progress with that.

so the journey continues....as i said last night to ryan "just stamp failure on our foreheads, cause this is just too much for me."

caedmon daycare update

2010-02-27T18:29:00.000-08:00

so, caedmon has been in daycare about 6 months on and off now. he goes still only about 7 hours a week or less. here are some highlights/lowlights:

1. he bit another child. yes, 2/25/10 he bit a kid in daycare. he was trying to communicate to the kid and the boy didn't understand what caed was saying, so out of frustration he bit him. i didn't freak out. i just realized, he's 2, i mean seriously!!!!!! but come-on caedmon!
2. he usually tells us all about his day while he's on the potty. he will tell us play by play of what happened while pooping. it's really funny and a great way for us to get information out of him. like when he gets put in time out or when someone is mean to him or when he pushed someone. NICE
3. he usually fights us every morning to go or whenever he does leave the house. its never good, but then as soon as he's int eh car and listening to his music - he's fine.
4. caedmon has an irrational fear of a room at the school. its really crazy, he's started calling it, "the scary church." it makes us a little stressed and sad that he is so afraid, because usually he's so in ocntrol and cool about everything. but he's really scared of this room and we've had a few instances in there where he just loses it. so we have to make sure during daycare time they don't use that room on days hes there. annoying, but we're sad for him.
5. he pretty much has the daycare workers wrapped around his finger. even though they treat him fairly and everything, they all still mush over him. it's cute!
6. his highlight is when he gets to watch a movie or read books. mostly movies. we hear alllllllllllll about the movies during potty time!
7. i can hear him from my office when they take the daycare to the bathroom. he still celebrates everytime he pees. hillarious.

so, all in all, he's good. he may act like he doesn't like school or want to go, but he always does well and comes home with a smile!

feb vacation

2010-02-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

A great February Vacation began with snow right when Nan, Elliot and Mom visiting!!!!

family time at the Discovery Museum - caedmon loved this place!

Pirate!

elliot had a rough week in MA. he had his first ear infection, first fever, first bump on the head, first sick visit trip to the dr., first diahreah, first flight, LOTS OF FIRSTS

the cousins did have some fun together though! caedmon was a wild man when elliot first arrived, but after about a day and a half he was a sweet cousin and played very nice.

HOW ADORABLE IS THIS BOY!!!!!!!!!

Grandma had a blast with her boys. Caedmon is a grandma's boy! he loves her and asked for her for atleast 5 days after she left. he can't wait for her and pa to come back at easter time.

Elliot and Caedmon - this pretty much sums up the first two days.

THANKS FOR COMING!!!! XOXOXO

Caedmon trying to get in on Elliots photo shoot action.
A LITTLE STAR!

love day

2010-02-14T11:24:00.000-08:00

waking up to "I love you mommy and daddy, sooooo much" was the perfet beginning to a great valentine's day!
caedmon has been so loveable lately and he always expresses it. last night, he and i were dancing to a Batman song and he grabbed my face and planted one on! at dinner he said, right away and without prompting, "thank you mommy for making dinner." (his kind daddy taught him that!) he's just been the sweetest little valentine.
today, i'm sitting back and watching him enjoy his valentine's gifts, more like birthday! we got a great deal on megabloks Disney CARS and he loves them! so i had to get the rest of the set for him. he is playing and playing and his joy is contagious. loving him and having him to love is the greatest gift this day!
he just called ryan in to HUG him! "dadddddy, please come! please come hug me!" adorable! we get this all the time - such a sweetie.
but.....to top it all off! i have an even bigger sweeter valentine! I did 14 things for him starting Feb. 1. so, we've been celebrating in little ways for two weeks. the strawberries are from one day. he wrote me the sweetest 14 things he loves about me and gave me an ipod dock for my office. plus, we're going to a new restaurant tonight and he's even going to help me clean the house (i am not sure he's in agreement with that one or not yet!!! :) haahah)
we had a nice valentine's breakfast organized by me at church today. i was proud of it because i have yet to have an opportunity to realy take control of something at church. YES, i'm "the pastor's wife" yes, i have a ton of ideas, yes, i am "controlling!" but, i just have sat back, YES for almost 5 years. so, this was good and it was fun and successful. we raised over $450 for our sunday school and had a great time! church was nice and our family time after church has been great. the weather is beautiful, cold, but sunny and our hearts are full. God is Good!
xo
notes: thinking about you meg, kyle and jax - Prayers :)
laura, i'll miss you this week! Peru will be amazing and it'll go exactly how he's planned!
those with new little ones - enjoy your 1st valentines' day with your little ladies and gents!

5 for Fri

2010-02-05T18:46:00.000-08:00

five things that happened today.

1. sock book: caedmon put his socks in a book and said, oh, i love this book. it's a sock book. very cute. he has a funny imagination. i love when he plays alone. not so we get a break, but to hear the things he comes up with and see how he is learning.
2. french fries: caedmon is not eating well, he is just not 100% healthy and so he doesn't want to eat. we went the 99 tonight and he was WILD and didn't eat his hamburger and was just plain defiant. but the whole time he was having fun. his smile gets him out of a lot of trouble
3. signed, sealed, delievered: bought out my lease on myar. so many hidden costs on taxes, premium coverage/warranty plans, etc. but we are blessed - God is good and the car is ours.
4. lamest date ever: the most time ryan and i were able to spend alone together this week was at the car dealership. almost 2 hours! we had bigger plans but that just took too long. i am trying to make the best of it though and enjoy something special about my hub every day.
5. actually not stressed: i can for once say i'm handling stress so well. i'm happy about it and thankful to God for using his POWER to help me with my stress. a deep breathe, thank you Lord.
xo

these are a few of my favorite things...

2010-01-28T17:46:00.001-08:00

1. American Idol - loving it! especially love the comments and random things ryan says during the show. Every week HAleigh comes over and we totally enjoy this tradition, third year in a row! whoa. that's crazy.
2. Caedmon's pajamas. he's totally adorable in PJs and he loves picking his own out.
3. Caedmon's new word for the day, "DELICIOUS!" he was ll over it! hillariousl.
4. CAMERAS - researching a new camera, lenses, ect is taking up alot of my extra time right now. its fun, but i really want to make a good decision!
5. Sunday School - il ove teaching sunday school for my HS class. its a blessing and is really helping me. i feel selfish at how much i'm learning and how it's helping my spiritual life so much.
6. new clothes and new recipies - i've worn a lot of my new clothes this week and that just makes me feel happy! and i tried a new recipie EVERY night this week! GO ME! yummmmmmmmy stuff!
7. butterfly kisses - ryan has the BEST and longest lashes!
8. wishing and hoping - i love having a HOPE every day and having hope for a new tomorrow. i have been a little discouraged many times lately, but i'm thankful that i have hope!

too much time

2010-01-22T17:33:00.000-08:00

too much OVERTIME.
i've been working so much i feel like! this week was a drain, but i did get an early start on my weekend by getting out at noon today. it doesn't feel like friday and thats a good thing!
today caedmon and i had a lot of fun together. we were with eachother from 12 to 8, not always the case lately, so i just ate him up!
caedmon things today:
1. he loves pretend and so i was hawkgirl and he was hawkman. he WORE out my arms with all the diving and jumping. mid jump, he'd just stop and almost out of breathe say, i love you mommy so much!
2. colored, stickered, puzzled,and did a worksheet. i love to see him create. he really is creative and loves to color and draw and mostly stick stickers. but the best thing he did was put together a puzzle. all by himself. he got this puzzle on wednesday and has it mastered. its a 25 piece pooh puzzle. we're amazed. he even did some math homework! ahaha (i'm trying to challenge him to think and do worksheets.)
3. run in! he was all about acting like the jonas brothers and running in to sing on stage. "LIVE TO PARTY!" he knows this song by heart and loves to run in and sing it loud!
i had a great time with him and got a few cute pictures. i'll post them soon!

CUPCAKES!!!!!!!!

2010-01-17T11:34:00.000-08:00

as i sat in my kitchen today, hearing my 2 year old SCREAM, "CUPCAKESSSSSSSSSS!" in the maddest most stressed out voice, i said to myself, "i see a blog post coming."
so, cupcakes it is.
no, he didn't get his cupcake, and i didn't get to go on a photoshoot with laura, but i did learn a lesson.
my son - cute and smart and awesome as he may be - is still a 2 year old. i was in denial for awhile. i woudln't embrace the idea of the "terrible 2" but i have embraced it. caedmon is just A LOT right now. he's been very demanding and was told a few times this weekend, "you're ruining mommy's birthday weekend." poor guy, but it was kinda true. every time we went to have fun this weekend, he was there to throw a fit.
(and, i was ust interrupted to take him to the potty, in which he pooped his pants. hasn't done that since AUGUST!)
deep breath...
but you know what, even when we're taken to the point where we just want to freak out and throw a fit ourselves, those fruits of the spirit actually kick in - THANK GOD! i love being his mommy and i don't have to re-iterate how much i love him or how much he means to me. i just had to come to the realization that yes, he is in the terrible 2s and no this is not always easy.
so, saturday was my b-day. i'm 27...and we had a nice day, despite a few fits by the little man.
best things about my b-day
1. got to go to IKEA, my favorite place
2. got an amazing teap pot from ryan. very thoughtufl gift.
3. my gift is redoing my scrapbook room! AWESOME! we're starting on that this afternoon with assitance from the wagners
4. ate out twice and didn't feel guilty. had lunch at IKEA and dinner at CASA BLANCA..the best darn mexican joint right next to our house.
5. was able to see both of my nephews, by skype, but nonetheless, it was sweet.
6. got a lot of love and money :) going to have to spoil myself some more
7. a very special gift, from my grandma, a painting my great grandma did. caedmon's great great grandma - i'll post a picture of it!
8. didn't feel fat! two weeks i've been depriving myself so i'd feel good on my b-day!
9. made from scratch amazing cupcakes and enjoyed every bit of its goodness- hence the title.

so, my b-day was nice! hoping for a nice year. as LAMAR would say, "2009 wasn't mine, 20-10 i'm in again." 09 wasn't the best year, and 26 was a little blah, but i have hope for an amazing 2010!

caedmon at 2

2010-01-09T16:51:00.000-08:00

here is my "baby book listing" of caedmon things at 2. i really never want to forget how he was...but its so hard not to because he's growing sooooo fast! Since caedmon is turning 2.5 soon, I thought I should record some highlights of him at 2 to 2.5 years. I had to add a few low lights too, because no child is perfect, am i right!

Caedmon still loves music…always drumming and moving to a beat
He has begun speaking in SENTENCES. when he asks for something or “demands” something we always make him put it in a sentence.
he is polite
he is good at sharing and even on boy at daycare told me so
he goes to dc about 5 to 7 hours a week, sometimes not at all
Potty Training has been great. he never had accidents frequently for the first two months of potty training, but by Oct no accidents
Traveled to WI to meet his new cousin mason in Oct was a little rough with the babies
Traveled again to WI for Christmas and was much better with babies Mason and Elliot
loves his cousins, says Mason and Elliot very clearly and knows they are his cousins. he also thinks they are his best friends.
Evee is still his best friend, and he loves her so much. He brightens up and is filled with joy every time she enters the scene
Still NO 2 year MOLARS! what is up with that?! he is such a bad teether, that is the only things he’s behind on.
most people think he’s at least 3, very advanced, tall, and mature looking. He is 34 lbs at 2 years 5 months
loves birthdays and loves to make playdoh birthday cakes
thinks farting is funny…typical boy
doesn’t like to be outside as much as he used to, has too many things to keep him entertained inside.
very good dexterity and control.
loves to play Frisbee and throw any kind of ball
wonderful counting skills
constantly tells Ryan and I that he “loves us so much”
knows his birthday is July 21st and likes to remind people. By October this skill is mastered (we’re extremely impressed)
likes to play dress up and pretend
still doesn't sleep well. he is very bad at going to bed most of the time and never sleeps a whole night. the good side, he is is dry all night and does get up to take potty breaks. we're getting more sleep than ever, usually only shortly interrupted.
knows his superhero “universes” and never gets them messed up
really enjoys watching movies and tv; especially veggie tales and Disney movies
likes to do things by himself, and always wants to be a big helper for mommy
enjoys cooking with us, especially sweet things he can taste test
has a sweet tooth for sure just like ryan
is probably sick of hearing his name, it seems like we’re always “correcting” him these days
has his fair share of tantrums, but recovers and can be distracted quickly
likes to use tools, and help daddy
his favorite things to play with are his Disney Cars cars

2010-01-03T19:44:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

christmas in WISCONSIN

2009-12-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

yeah, it does probably seem like i'm always in WI to those who read this blog. but i'm not really. just thanks to my little nephews i've made some exceptions this year. BUT i do make a point to be here for christmas. only 1 year in all my years did i NOT go home for christmas.
this year was definitely a classic home-y family christmas.
we arrived at nearly 11 p.m. on Christmas day, worn out from travelling from 1:30 p.m. EST to 10:48 CST. so...that is a long day. but, it was a great travelling time, caedmon was an angel and we enjoyed our christmas morning before the travelling began.
7 a.m. christmas day: caedmon wakes up and ryan does and believe it or not - i did too! we opened gifts and watching our son so excited was really special. we just love him so much and he's our little joy.
9 a.m. christmas breakfast: my own tradition, DELICOUS TRADITION. soo good i was "rubbing my face like uncle will." (my brother rubs his face when he's sooo full he's about to bust.)
10: a.m. CLEAN UP, take down tree, play with toys
12:00 eat again...just to get full before heading out on our way.
clean the rest of the house after breakfast and pack up the car....
1:30 on our way
2:10 arrive at airport toooooo early, but get good longterm parking on lower level of central parkikng - BONUS!
TRAVELLLLLLLL
arrive at what i will always call HOME and the first bright face i see is THIS: ELLIOT JACK JACOBSON! the cutest 7 month old on planet earth!
sat dec. 26th: did chrsitmas! it was great, the first gift was a snomobile for my dad. he was estatic and nan, will, and i had to try i out on a field later in the day!
caedmon loved opening gifts and was beside himself with joy when uncle will came over. he LOVES will. mason was introduced to uncle ryan for the first time and our family was all together with all the new additions, including aunt dede for a second year in a row.
mom and dad went allllllllllllllll out with gifts this year! the best being tickets to the bears/vikings monday night game. 8 of us enjoyed this pleasure two nights later...more to come on that.sundayafter church at BBC our entire babler-extended family was together. it was great. a very memorable christmas, we were all so happy to be together, and shared in a baby shower for our cousin luke and his wife tracy in honor of another babler entering the world. grandma babler hosted what will probably be the last christmas in her home as things are becoming too much for her in her health these days. but in this moment, we were all together, all happy and all praising God for the love our family has for one another.another huge highlight of sunday at grandma babler's was caedmon signing the BIBLE and JINGLE BELLS for everyone. he was a showman...so great. so articulate, and so proud.my dad and sister had tears in their eyes and my heart was so warm i could feel it heating up the whole room. he was precious.

monday....we left at 12:30 armed and ready for sub-zero freeeeezing temps and a hard game, probably a loss for our bears. we arrived at Soldiers Field with optimism and LOTS of layers and hot hands at 7:20 p.m....right before kick off.
we left that game (the 6th most televised game in all cable history) with JOY pouring from every pour of our bodies, the cold didnt' seem to matter anymore we WON our version of the 09-10 SUPERBOWL. IT WAS AWESOME! THE BEST GAME WE'd EVER SEEN! after killing them in th efirst half, we were able to somehow give it away and get it all back again in OT!
that night we stayed at the posh "W HOTEL" on the lakefront.
i didn't have my camera, so no pictures of this great game or the hotel or our time in CHI but i will be getting some from wes, karen, and brian.
here is a link to the hotel: amazing!http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2005

this night was our first overnight away from caedmon. it went well, he only cried in the night one little tear for mommy and daddy...and had his grandma right by his side. what a good boy he's been this WHOLE trip. what joys he's had and entertainment he's brought to my family. so much love...

also, we ate awesome indian food, cooked a lot of good food at home, ate way too much, had a fun shopping spree with gift cards, saw sherlock homes, laughed so hard we almost cried, watch julie and julia (loved it!), and left way too soon...of course!
:)

christmas time is here!

2009-12-22T08:00:00.001-08:00

so, as christmas has approached i've been trying to not stress again - that is my goal. and i would say i'm achieving it, other than the crazy CCA christmas pageant day, but we recovered.

things caedmon has been doing:

meeting santa - that was a huge highlight! he was not his normal bubbly self, caedmon was close to nap time and was very chill. he walked right up, we were first in line. caedmon got right up on santa's lap and said, "Hi, i want drumming, guitar, and microphone. i saw you on prep and landing" Here is the link to prep and landing, the nbc Disney Pixar special - so awesome!http://abc.go.com/watch/prep-and-landing/243219/243629/prep-landing After meeting Santa Caedmon has gotten really into the "good boy" side of things. he understands that santas coming and bringing him presents that Jesus picked out just for caemdon because he loves him. that's what he thinks.

sunday we got snow...lots of snow. we only played in it a bit before he said, "its freeeezing." yes, caedmon it is freezing. ryan had to snow blow twice and church was cancelled. the bummer - caedmon's sunday school christmas production was cancelled to. the upside - it got rescheduled for christmas eve.

ponderings for the new year:

1. i just can't work this much. i know i've said that before but after hearing this, i just can't:

"momma you're going to work?" me : "no, i'm not going to work today, it's sunday." caedmon: "YES!caedmon don't like when momma goes to work." that broke my heart. when i told my mom this story, i thnk she cried. not cool. sad. i just don't want to be away from him. i miss him just like he's a newborn still! and i love getting things done at home.

2. scrpabooking. it was my LIFE! now, i never really hve time to do any. and when i do have time, i have NO energy left over. however; this week caedmon and ryan spent time in my scrapbook room, what caedmon calls my "workshop" ADORABLE! we made cards and caedmon drew on paper and made bookmarks. the cutest was when he said, "dadddddy!I made this for you! i made it for you! come and see, daddy!" he was so proud! he loves to color. so, i have to make more time to get things done, it relaxes me and helps me remember all the good times and good things in life!

i had so much fun shopping this year for chrsitmas this year. i have a few things left and then i'm home free! not free by any means, but i'll be headed home with one whole suitcase just for gifts probably!

new pictures are coming!

fa la la la la

2009-12-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

wow. first off, i know i'm a slacker! i am worn out on everything. so i just need to rise above it and keep bloggin!
caedmon has been a busy boy this winter and here are FINALLY pictures to tell you what we've been up to:
enjoying our christmas party!
making cookies from food network mag
date night this monday with laura and ryan wagner at Tabocos Brazillian Steakhouse!

in bed sleepy head

2009-12-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

i guess i've been going to bed early and not bloggin...the holidays do wear me out a bit. mostly, i'm trying this holiday about all else *except getting amazing deals/bargains while out shopping* is to NOT STRESS. i just don't want stress. i want to relax. work has been a little stressful in and out lately and i want to just let it go and not freak out!
caedmon has been amazing though...very good boy. he's doing so well and we're extremely proud. everyday we say to eachother - how is our son over 2? how is our son almost 2.5? how did we get this far and not mess something up!?!? hahaha, not the last question actually. we know God is empowering us each day to raise this little boy and BOY is it a privledge.
caedmon's newest:
back to eating AWESOMELY well
practicing his lines for the christmas play at church:"We brought love, God loves us" instead he says "me and you and you and you," inplace of us.
momma, i wanna help you? caed constantly wants to help us cook, cut things, turn lights on and off, brush his teeth, do anything we need to do on our own. he just wants to help. it's a great thing.
"I MAKE YOU HAPPY!?" yes, caedmon you make me extremely happy. i had a crying day on sunday and he was just so sweet. rubbed my back and said that. how can you be sad after that. there is no way! he's so precious and "tenderhearted" just like ryan. i love it!
left and right: he knows his left and right on his hands and feet. some second graders don't even know that! hahaha
christmas countdown: everyday caed is in charge of changing our chrismas countdown chart. he loves this job. he knows that today is tuesday and it's 17 days until christmas. impressive.

yes, i realize i brag about him a lot...i can't help it. he amazes me and he's the only one i got to flaunt! so, deal! ahahah :)

how could i not be thankful?

2009-12-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

thanksgiving was a nice time spent with ryan's parents. we thankful that Caedmon loved being with his grandparents and they gave us some "time off" as full time parents :)

we celebrated christmas and thanksgiving in one weekend, which was nice and a good way to get a lot of "quality family time" with ry's parents who we haven't seen in a year!

actual thanksgiving was spent stuffing our faces at the Drumm's house, eating so much i was practically sick. a good sick! then, laurel and i went shopping from 5:30-7ish. that was great, got some good deals and matching outfits for my family christmas pictures that are always a hit! coming soon...this week!

caed and evee were adorable friends. they were so sweet together, and he just laughs at the thought of evee. he loves her so much and loves everything she does!

black friday was awesome - got some amazzzzzzzing deals!

parenting note: caedmon has not been eating meat. he's been not eating any meat unless we hide it in a quesadilla. we have NEVER had eating problems EVER but now since he was sick he doesn't like to eat anything that has FLAVOR. he's not into anything but rice, yougurt, pasta, and fruit snacks. so, we're tricking him into it.

new do

2009-11-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

so, i got a new haircut. and that usually means the same ol, but this week...i was ready for something new when my old hairdresser came back from NYC! he's back! and i was so happy i let him do whatever he wanted.
so, that's what i got and i love it. ryan was so cute texting me while i was getting it dyed "GO FOR IT! CHOP IT!" and hoping that i would. so i did and he loves it. i am getting more used to it each minute really. so that is my major excitement in life...sad, but fun!
christmas time is coming...oh wait! it's thanksgiving in less than a week! once again, sad that we just pass by what a great holiday. but truely i can say that i am always thankful and constantly express my thanks to God for all he's done and is doing and will do for me and my family and those around me. i am forever thankful for the fact that he's given me LIFE and LIFE TO THE FULL! i have more than i ever need and could ever want in the life he's given me. This holiday season i am just going to try and try to be patient and not to stress.
my goal this week was NO STRESS and i think i succeeded. i haven't gotten stressed or anxious except for maybe a few minutes total this week. i'm feeling God's strength helping me with my anxiety. yes, i get anxious. about the stupidest things. people don't expect that with my personality, but i am a very anxious person. i'm just too highstrung and i know i need to chill. chill and let God fill....haha, lame. but really. i'm working on it daily.
enjoy the pics.
:)

promised land and hope....

2009-11-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

so, this really isn't my usual post, but i have to write this down.
In Sunday school we're learning about the Isrealites and their unfaithfulness toward God even when he is ALWAYS Faithful!!!!
when reading i found it interesting that they are kept from THEIR promised land, for good reason. and it hit me...what is keeping me from my promised land. every day i'm going to try and break through one thing thats keeping me from my promised land, my abundant life, my JOY, my fullness of spirit, my "truth", because if i can overcome and have greater faith in HIM i will reach my promised land. i can be like Joshua and Caleb who recieved the prize. we all can. as i search to find what is keeping me from that Promised Land i know that it is clearly SIN. getting rid of the little things that "so easily entangle" us and running toward HIM, my PRIZE, my PROMISED LAND, will find all thatis missing in this mundane world. I do love life, but lately we've (ryan and i) been feeling like somethings missing. we need MORE, not materially - but spiritually. a hunger and a thirst for HIM.
the hope that we found in studying the isrealites was that even though they didn't enter the promised land, and maybe i "never" will, but their children did. and isn't that what we want? essentially all i now want in life (since having caedmon) is that he has a better life that I did...and mine has been pretty darn good :)
i desire that he reaches his promised land, and with the decisions i made i can teach him more so that he also overcomes and reaches the promises that God has for him.

ok, so i'm not the best writer, but i had to release that. i know that i have a desire to reach God's will fully for me and see what he has more me in a new way each day. I only want the same for my son.

God bless you all and give you HOPE for his promised land awaits!

on the homefront...

2009-11-11T16:32:00.001-08:00

so, what's been happening lately
1. fighting sickness
2. getting sick
3. finishing kitchen
4. CLEANING
5. working too much
6. Christmas planning and shopping
7. trying to re-prioritize, re-organize, and re-evaluate a lot

so, caedmon has been fighting fevers and coughing and a bad cold since friday night. it turned out to be an ear infection. he's doing okay, but not sleeping well and totally not himself. he's miserable, but trying to be a good boy. amazinly he's not had any accidents, is so polite saying he loves us and saying thank you all the time, and he's been a good boy despite. ryan has been an AMAZING daddy. doing pretty muche verything for him. they've been sleeping in the guest room, and ryans been getting up with him multiple times a night. i'm so thankful for ryan.
luckily, we had a day off this week for veteran's day. that was nice. i got my backsplash tile done! it just needs grout, but looks fabulous and really makes the kitchen complete! now only new curtain rods and some wall art projects and i'm done!
speaking of done: i'm done christmas shopping for caedmon! we're going to leave the rest of it up to grandma and grandpas! he was so easy this year: a few mega blocks sets and some cars and a few other little things. i'm excited for this Christmas, but i can't believe how fast this year has gone!!!!! my guy was just a toddler and now he's a BOY. i am planning a great christmas picture again this year...no definite plan yet, but something is brewing :)
hopefully the next pictures i post are completed kitchen pictures!!! :)

A Captain Caedmon Halloween!

2009-11-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

Trick or treat! look for the Orange Squares! (aka recess cups)

Caed and his best friend Evee!

CAPTAIN CAEDMON's awesome pumkin- a batman pumpkin!

favorite pictures

2009-10-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

.

laura took some awesome pictures of my little family. these two are by far my favorite.
ryan and i are so in love lately, this picture just makes me happy. you know, if you've been married over like 2 years, things kinda chill out. but, ryan and i are happier than ever lately. so excited for life. so excited for our future, so excited to see our son grow each day. today is ryan's bday and i woke up in prayer. thanking God for bringing him into this world and guiding our lives together. i thank God how well we fit together, how well we work together. one of the greatest compliments i've ever got from our relationship is from my mom she said to me, after she was leaving our home when caed was 3 weeks old, "you and ryan are a real team. you can do anything together. you're a great team and you will enjoy all of this and get through every thing together. you're awesome." it sums up how i feel about us. i always remember our "TEAM" whenever i'm facing anything. i'm not alone. i have the best partner and teammate ever!
The second picture, the one of us and caedmon makes me so happy. i feel like this IS OUR LIFE. we watch him. we watch his every crazy movement and we're filled with joy. he is so joyful and exhuberant and expressive and excited....he's wonderful. even when he doesn't act "perfect" he's great for us! watching him grow has been a blur. we always have to check ourselves as which day it is, what year it is! time is going by so fast. he's the exact boy we've always wanted.
a few funny things bout caed lately:
his new favorite TV show is "Batman Brave and the Bold MUSICAL!" its the perfect blend of ryan and i! it's hillarious and awesome. what makes it GREAT is that Neil Patrick Harris is in it as The Music Miester. i love it. caedmon knows the songs and sings the love song to me in the a.m. when watching.
today he told us this, in these exact words," caedmon got time out. in the gym. cause maria. yeah...had to get time out in the gym." who gave it to you, did livi. "No miss sokah did" he tells us EVERYTHING its so funny. i did find out this time out was because of kissing maria so much.
caed also told me all about each little einstein, in detail while taking a bath. i love how skilled in language he is. it makes me happy, he's such a "babler"!!!
enjoy your night and your weekends! i know i will!

mahoney wedding

2009-10-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to go with laura to the wedding of stephanie and ryan mahoney. it was a rainy and foggy day, but this wedding party didn't mind one bit! they were the sunshine on a dreary day! for sure the most excited bunch of friends - ever! they even booooogied down the isle youtube style.
here is a collage - unedited of pictures that i took from the day. i never put any up that i take so i thought i'd do it Derek Henderson style. (cause he rocks) i made them too small res. but wanted it to be able to upload quick.

blur

2009-10-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

my eyesight is blurred. i never get enough sleep. lately caedmon has been up for like 2-3 hours in the middle of the night! it's so annoying and defeating! ryan and i dont know what to do, but we're pushin' through, knowing this will pass - eventually.

during the waking hours..we've been busy these past few weeks.

i made caedmon's halloween costume - beyond adorable! and we are finishing up in the kitchen.

i'll be shopping for new curtains and a new dining table this week! :)

life is good...like always.

caedmon news: he is talking in full sentences and putting amazing sentences together. "Daddy is a boy. Caedmon is a boy. Daddy and Caedmon are boys. " "Oh, i have another idea!" *usually a bad idea! "Caedmon CAN do it!" - also usually a bad idea.

he was in DC a few hours this week and made a crown in honor of the story of Queen Esther. here he is with his crown!

a WI weekend overview

2009-10-16T08:37:00.001-07:00

FAMILY VISIT

Whoa…it’s been too long.
Sorry that I haven’t wrote for a while. Not that you guys care anyway…but cool blog thing. Someone googled their name * I won’t say who as to not put their name back on* and we talked after about like 15 years of no contact. Pretty cool.
Anyway, this past weekend I went to WI! I had a great time seeing my family…and a NOT SO GREAT time traveling. Caedmon was a bear…but I am not going to go into that because I’m determined to remember the good times. Not the times of me wrestling a very strong 2 year old in an airplane while crying…there I go again. I’m done. It was good.
Highlights: ELLIOTS EYES, EXPRESSIONS, SMILES, LAUGHS, LAID BACK ATTITUDE; Meeting MASON! So adorable! So sweet and babyish and he looks like my brother, which was unexpected. Karen is a great mom, so attentive and happy. Will is a cool dad, very in love with his boy. Will and Caedmon are BEST FRIENDS now! Caed loves Uncle Wilt and playing with him. Will constantly kept him going and was so much fun to play with! They had a blast! Eating…I ate so much. So much good stuff! Mom is a great cook…I appreciate it more than ever. Apple Cider-ing with with whole family – fresh “organic” (well, sprayed once) apples from our old farm! First SNOW of the year was in WI on Oct 10th…that is just crazy.
Kitchen update: I came home to a chair rail up and lookin’ good and to painted walls. I painted the red wall this week and more coats of yellow. We only have a small area left to do and then the backplash and hanging things! Very very cool! I’m so excited! We are also getting a new dining room table – AWESOME!
Enjoy all the pictures!

list

2009-10-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

so, i love lists. yes, i looooooooooooooove them! and today, i completed one - my ikea shopping list.
i only didn't get 1 thing i NEEDED on the list: baskets.
some random thoughts, listed.

1. i had a dream last night about richard pulsfus, an old childhood love :) that was random
2. i painted the kitchen, bottom half tonight
3. i only had 3 hours with my son today, that makes me sad.
4. it also makes me re-evaluate things...especially working
5. caedmon accidentally pushed the record button on dvr and happened to record JONAS...so funny. was this intentional?
6. only two days until i meet my nephew mason
7. laura wagner is hillarious! she's the best.
8. ryan's car - going to get fixed this weekend. about $500...not cool.
9. God is providing!
10. painting is actually great because i just escape and don't have to think.
11. i love my camera...its' almost our year anniversary as a couple. :)
12. SYTYCD makes me want a hard-dancer body. should've been a dancer...
13. caedmon has been doing so well in DC...but not napping. today he said, after a 10 minute nap, "ok, caedmon done napping now." what a guy!
14. praying hard for a great travel day on friday. we leave so early in the a.m. and that is usually when caemdon is waking up for the first time, only to be drowsy for more hours. 5:20...we have to leave the house. please pray for a good little boy, no "accidents", and sanity, and strength, and joy. i need to make the best of the time we have together, i keep reminding myself.
15. I have a heart for people with hurting marriages and desire to help people...i need to see how God can help me use this heart and help heal his children.
16. 16 is my favorite number and my co-worker's too...random.
17. i'm going to try mary kay's mineral foundation instead of bareminerals...not cause i dont like it, but because jen sold me.
:)

a super life we lead...

2009-10-02T09:14:00.000-07:00

i'm so thankful for this week...last week was rough and this one was great.

we did have our share of trials with out 2 year old...he is a handful, but a blessing. the best day of this week was when he dressed up as CAPTAIN CAEDMON! so adorable. i love him so much and brought so much joy to us and made us smile. we had a fun time cheeeeering and flying with
Captain Caedmon.

Another highlight of this week was rekindling a relationship with a close friend. for years we've both felt the loss of our friendship and on Wednesday morning we talked. thank God for facebook and for honesty. when talking to her, i realized something that is true but i never articulated it.

"growing up is great! we can get real and HONESTY comes out and we can get rid of Drama and hiding the truth. our immaturity was evident, and now being a grown up we can even admit to that and not feel ashamed."

i felt so much relief after we talked, it was like a part of my old self was back. i don't want the bad part, but she was a GREAT part. i had forgiven her years about and never hated her just missed her.love her so much and feel like we've come full circle and now no matter what we'll always hve our "connection" back. Praise God for restoration and healing. my heart was filled with joy.

this weekend: Apple Picking today, fall pictures at the farm, rainy days coming: spent inside relaxing, cleaning and playing, beginning to decide on what to do about our dining room re-vamp next, and maybe a trip to IKEA. might actually start reparing some dining room walls and painting trim in there....hummmmm ideas ideas! searching for my lost fall decor...can't seem to find it anywhere. planning halloween costumes, maybe some sewing of them.

in other notes: ONLY ONE WEEK UNTIL I MEET MASON! My newest nephew! i'm goign to WI next friday - monday! JOY!!!!! and i'll get to see elliot!!!!!! i'm so excited!!!!!

lightheaded

2009-09-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

so, we have had a nice weekend.
first a date to the MOS (Museum of Science) in Boston. it was great. a nice/different date and topped it off with indian food. yum
saturday, a lot of house stuff and playin' with caedmon and a "bondfire" get-together at night - after a crazy fit in the afternoon from a cranky boy.
today: a trip to home depot and paint samples. my "brown" was eggplant and my "peanut butter" was the same color as my cabinets. i am not happy. i do love the red, but now i am at square one with color choices. ahhhhh more frustrating than i expected, i wish we were like 2 mins from a HomeDepot instead of 15.
now, i'm lightheaded because we painted with oil based primer over three of the walls that we coudn't remove the wallpaper from. we had to clean the brushes with gasoline because we didn't have any paint remover...and i accidently got some on my lips...so i had to remove it with the gas and now...yes, i'm loopy.

sunday school started at MMC this week. i'm excited for this year and glad that we have new things happening at our church...it is time.
caedmon was a blessing today. after one little 2 year old tantrum this morning he was GREAT and no nap! he was so cute all day and played by himself so much and just brought joy. lately i've been calling him "joybringer reveley" and he thinks it funny. he is a joy-bringer though. he is always bringing us joy in new ways. i did look at him and say, "HOW DID YOU GROW SO FAST! ITS NOT NICE!" beacuse he really has changed and grown so quickly. i miss my baby boy! pray that we have another one soon, cause time is flying!

just pictures

2009-09-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

enjoying a cookie for having a great day at Daycare! i love this boy!
progress in the kitchen....removing wallpaper

celebrating the bears victory!

breakin' the rules for the game...enjoying dinner in the livingroom! excuse my wild hair :)

what a day....

2009-09-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

oh, what a day!

actually, the problem started saturday afternoon.
after shooting a wedding with laura and taking a nice nap, i woke up to a camera with a SPOT and flecks on the sensor.
for those of you who know me: THIS IS NOT COOL! I use my camera probably about 2 hours a day! if not ALLLLL Day long. i have taken millions of pictures this year and to know that i might be out of a camera for 6-8 weeks is depressing. i will survive...somehow. i can still take pictures, but the flaws are evident and frustrating.
i'm thinking some sand got into the sensor from shooting on the beach...saddness.
then, today. 9:45 a.m. i get a call from my hub. he was supposed to be taking the camera to RITZ to check out the problem and he says, "my car won't start. i think its the transmission." GREAT NEWS! ahahah, right.
there is no possible way that we could afford two car payments and a new car or major repairs. his has about 128K on it and has been having some issues. but, we JUST got new tires....bummer! so we're waiting to hear if it is the transmission or something else that would be easier to repair and cheaper. either way, it's money.
so the camera is free, except for shipping but the car most definitely is not...
in other news: we did just begin renovations on the kitchen, which are mostly entirely free thanks to the house being owned by the church and not us. but it is a lot of work. i will post some pictures of the cleared walls...no more hideous wallpaper!
i dont know why, but its times like this i wish my family lived by. it seems like things would be easier if you had parents nearby and could borrow their camera or had a sister down the street and could share a car with her. or they could help with the kitchen and it would be done in no time at all...plus, when things suck sometimes you just want your family around cause you can complain and they don't care, or you don't feel bad for doing it.
anyway...the BRIGHT SPOT - i'm not stressed. i'm bummed or alittle sad, but not stressed. i know that God will provide and look forward to a post cause i believe that GOD WILL and has already planned something great out of this. either a new car situation, a new camera situation, or some loaners in the mean time...whatever the case he has never let us down! even when it comes to stupid material things God knows and we can learn from this as well. so i'm feelin' groovy despite the annoyances this day!
:-)

five for friday

2009-09-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

Five for Friday
Five favorite things for this week...pointing out the best things in life

1. getting to bed early for me and caedmon: caedmon has been going to bed early all week. about 8:30 to 8:45....that is EARLY for him. getting this boy settled down and pottied and brushed and read-to, etc. doesn't happen easily. we're hoping that this week will start a pattern of earlier bed times for caedmon. and earlier bed time may equal longer sleeping? we've noticed this when he goes down earlier and and gently he sleeps well. i have been going to bed before 11 every night, which is early for me too. i want to go to bed before that but its hard! when that means less than two hours alone with ryan and my laptop and the tv! hahaha but i am favoring the sleep! so this is my number 1 favorite thing of this week.

2. classic books. tonight we hit up barnes and noble and it brought me back to childhood. also, reading like a million books a night to caedmon makes me love the classic books again. tonight we bought THE DIGGINEST DOG...we used to love this book as kids! also, I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER - a classic and caedmon said, "this one make momma cry." it does. he's right. i bought mason and elliot *my nephews* some classics tonight to add to their collections as well. I LOVE BOOKS!

3. Co-Workers. This week i was pumped to have great co-workers. i had some awesome conversations, was able to help and support people, and was able to get help and support from people. i'm so thankful for my job. It was actually one of my favorite things this week.

4. "sentences" caedmon using good sentences. he really was doing great...using sentences to tell us everything. we heard things like, "oh, i know! i'll read daddy's book." and "Caedmon likes that movie" and "I am eating a lollipop!" but my FAVORITE sentence of the week came tonight, "Oh, momma, you're having a bad hair day."

5. THE OFFICE; this is my favorite show came back on for the fall season. made me actualy look forward to the fall a little bit, but also made me realize - it's here!

i hope you all had a few favorite things from this week. it's fun to look back and think about the things that MADE this week memorable, or a little special. :)

delish

2009-09-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight i made Thai Chicken Pizza from California Pizza Kitchen's recipie. i kinda did my own thing for some of the toppings and i used whole wheat crust - AWESOME! lets just say, there were no leftovers. so good.

my famous chicken wings for the opening to the bears season. unfortunately...they lost. it was depressing. but the wings were good. i always make wings and nachos and potato skins for the opening game of the season. i scarfed!

progress

2009-09-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

so, we're making progress.
school is into its third week. its going well. i'm adjusting to working longer days.
caedmon is into daycare full swing, still only a few hours a week, but he's a champ. no crying, all smiles. it's hillarious when i hear someone saying, "yeah, caedmon can do that! or caedmon goes potty." then i realize it's him talking in the third person. we're teaching him I and ME which he does know, but when he's at school he always uses his name. he still doesn't know the names of the other kids, but they are sure starting to learn his! he talks the MOST of all the kids and is a very good boy. ms. olivia has to "throw down" on him, but he likes whatever she does and listens very well to her. he ate his WHOLE lunch today and amazed the rest of the DC Staff. it was good.
this past weekend we had a nice time with our little family. the weather wasn't great on sat. so we just sat...literally didn't do much.
ryan and i have progressed in deciding to "own" a healthy lifestyle. we eat extremely healthy, i would say, and we are active, we go to the chiropractor, try to get plenty of rest *yeah right!*, but we do need more excersise. so we took up running...joy. i hate running, but i feel good afterward. 4 more times and i get new shoes...motivation! i love shoes...
we've officially started progress on a few tasks around the house that have been haunting me since moving here. 1. my hideous kitchen. i dont even like to call it MINE, but i do live here. so, we're starting! tonight we painted the door and some trim and the radiator along the floor. 2. the bathroom. i cried when we moved here and saw my minature bathroom. we're doing a little bit of work there. 3. searching for a new dining room table and hutch. we don't have our own set and the church provided one is ridiculous.

funny kid thing:
this weekend on sunday after church we did have some kids come over to play with caed. hillarious stuff happend! a 2 year old (caedmon) and 6 and 8 year old brothers. something scary at first, but now funny was caedmon getting clocked by the 8 year old swinging...caed flew like 5 feet. the 6 year old said, "JAKE! YOU ALMOST KILLED A BABY!" I couldn't help but crack up it was so funny, once i knew caed was okay.

last night we went to laura and ryans and on the ride home caedmon said, "Dadda and momma, i had a fun day!" that was great to hear! its so nice to se that he is so enthusastic and adventurous about life!

enjoy a few pics!

fanatic

2009-09-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

what a boring weekend! seriously, my highlight was going to teh grocery store twice. i am not seeking pitty, i actually enjoyed the boring days...kinda. plus, the weather was not nice at all.
the highlight of the weekend is the must anticipated BEARS vs. Packers game. as die-hard BEARS fans, we've got caedmon all geared up for the game. (that is which, he'll be in bed for anyway). gramma and pa babler sent him a cool bears outfit (pictured above.)
sometimes i feel like i should be doing more, and get more motivated. its hard because i am so worn out at the end of the week that sometimes i just don't want to do anything. i am relieved that after this week all of our big bills we've been dreading will be past and we can actually spend a little money, maybe do a few special things.
this week approaching i am going to be starting one half day a week. no more full full-time weeks. i only did that to get school kicked-off. now, i get to come home at noon on wednesdays. i'm looking forward to these half-days. time relaxing while caedmon takes his nap or maybe i'll get some scrapooking done or photoshop practice in.
next week shoudl be a busy one though, at the end of the week laura has two wedding - friday and saturday. so, i'll be accompaning her for atleast the saturday event. i love shooting weddings with her, even though i really dont know what i'm doing yet. there's just something great about experiencing someone's most important special day of their life - even when you don't know who they are!

big boy haircut

2009-09-08T17:46:00.000-07:00

looks like such a big boy now! he and daddy have the same haircut! so cute!

something funny caedmon did today:

well, after school we went to EGGROLL CAFE! ridiculously good. http://www.eggrollcafe.com/. when caedmon was a little baby i used to ALWAYS go there. he's been breastfed there like a million times, had his diaper changed on the tiny bathroom floor, and even "partied" there. today, we just were hangin' with hales at EC. caedmon was sitting by the window and saw, "JOE!" Yes, JOE JONAS! A boy came walking by with skinny jeans on and this same hair! He did look like Jonas. Hillarious. Then, later the boy was walking by again and caedmon said, "hey Joe! there's joe! Our son is ridiculous and obsessed with the jonas brothers! gotta love it, haleigh was dying!

A Labor-less weekend

2009-09-08T10:24:00.000-07:00

A nice three days off, after a CRAZY first week back to school.

The first week of school was actually very smooth, but extremely busy. I was so tired on Thursday and Friday!

A long weekend couldn't have come at a better time.

SATURDAY: A nice relaxing morning and a day trip to Newburyport, MA. A beautiful coastal town. loved it! We met up with Laura, Ryan, and Jen. It was awesome...just walking around, eating ice cream, enjoying seafood, and the water. Highlight: HAVING A BOY! Boy, was i thankful that caedmon is a boy on this trip. in these small little towns, where you never know if there is a bathroom or what-have-you, you can always be sure there is a bush or an alleyway! Caedmon went pee atleast 4 times in Newburyport. We found many discrete places, and i was thankful for a boy. it would have been so annoying to find bathrooms every hour! i am very happy he's potty trained and "easy-going." another accident free day!

unfortunatly, today i did miss out on a big event: THE SCHWILLING WEDDING. i posted a picture of them, even though it makes me sad i'm so happy for them! Congrats Hannah and Justin!

SUNDAY: After church, we headed on our way out to Wendell, MA - a small town in western massachusetts where my cousins *(step-cousins, actually) live. We enjoyed time with my aunt and uncle and 4 of my cousins, and two of Kevin's kids. it was a beautiful day. we had a water balloon fight - very fun! ryan and i won the second round, until i got soaked! caedmon was a good boy, he did experience a few accidents there because my aunt was spoiling him and giving him drink after drink after drink...you get my point. HIGHLIGHT: just RELAXING and eating lots of yummy food. the veggie pizza was the best.

MONDAY: just a day at home. it wasn't completely labor-less. i did do some housework and we tried something new. A NO NAP DAY. we have done these, unintentionally before. but, doing it on purpose made me feel so bad for caed. plus, it trapped us inside. every time he goes in the car after about 12:00 he falls asleep. he's been doing good with naps, but horrible at night. so we watned to try and see if he really "NEEDS" the nap. amazingly - he went to bed at 8 pm. and wasn't up for the day until 8 a.m.! VEYR NICE! he only woke up twice, once at 5 saying, "i want dada" and once at 6:30ish to come in our bed and was bad dead sleep! it was great. but the rough part of the day was at 3:30-6ish when he was worn out. but, he woke back up when he ate dinner and then hales came over.

so, we had a great day. i got some scrappin' done, we went to a park, and we watched ACROSS THE UNIVERSE...awesome!

today...back at it at work. glad to have a short week :)

caedmon's doing great in daycare and i'm hoping he keeps it up, only going 5 hours this week.

enjoy the pictures. Labor Day pictures on the next post

what i get to come home to

2009-09-01T18:26:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day of school. How was it? very smooooooooooooth. the best of my four years at cca. it was seamless and easy-going for a first day anyway. there was some drama, a lot of questions, anxious students, and parents with lumps in their throats, but all in all...it was smooth and easy.
the best part of my day was coming home to my boys. each day i am so excited to come home to ryan and caed. thankfully i'm only EXACTLY 8 minutes away from home and so my "commute" isn't rough. but, i still get excited to drive up. the best days are when caed and ryan are sitting on the stairs outside waiting for me and i hear, "mommmmmma's home!" that is just the greatest feeling in the world. i love coming home to their love and their faces.
caedmon doesn't take much time lately to "snuggle." but when i'm home from work i get a few moments of love and he pats my back as he hugs me. i love this feeling and won't ever forget it.
These pictures are a great representation of how happy we are when the school day is over and we're together. we're so blessed! i can't imagine working until 5, sitting in traffic, and missing so much of my child's life. or having ryan have to do that. what we saccrifice in "dinero" we make up for in time together and happiness!
JOY, simply PURE JOY!

have you ever

2009-08-29T17:49:00.001-07:00

no, not that annoying jr. high game or college one - depending on your maturity level :)

have you ever tried www.allrecipies.com. it's amazing. seriously. i used it twice today. i had stuff to make wontons, cause i had some pork left over and some wonton wrappers from two different meals this week. and TA DA! i found it, i have all the ingredients and they're going to be awesome. i love that site. it's my lifeline for cooking. try it.

anyway. today was a laid back day, so was friday - praise God. i had such a week that i needed these two days to do NOTHING. i really was pretty much inside - vegging out all weekend. loved it. never get to do it.
caedmon was great. such a good boy and so mcuh fun to be with. last week i missed him so much because i worked so much more than normal, but that is goign to be our life this year. it'll be an adjustment working more, but i know God is providing for us and we're going to be able to "move forward" because of these saccrifices.

caedmon has an amazing memory. here are some moments from this weekend that astounded us:
1. i asked him if he wanted chinese noodles, he said, "yeah, like at gramma's house." ok, that was over a month ago and it was one time. how does he remember all this stuff...
2. he was kicking a soccerball into an opening in his potty stool. (hard to picture i'm sure..anwyay...) and he would get it to pop out and say, "cuckooo" like a clock. he picks up on everything he sees, even if it's just a tid bit from a show.
3. he started crying because he wanted to drum. he was drumming, so i wasn't understanding. but he wanted to drum on his BROWN drum, the one that he broke like two months ago....it's been long gone, but not forgotten.
4. two words, this one is too long to tell the story, "turner hider."
5. Hershey Squirt! (a family inside joke.)

i love his memory except when he also reminded me i'd let him watch jonas brothers movie while i was cooking. so, as soon as i went downstairs to start cooking i hear, "dadda, what momma doing?" daddy: she's cooking dinner. caedmon "JONAS BROTHERS MOVIE TIME!"

oh, no. i've got my hands full.

well, i'm going to scrapbook - i have so much to do! need to get a dent in it sometime.

a new favorite family pic...

2009-08-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

this is so our life :)
love it!

shout outs

2009-08-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

SHOUT OUTS TO THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE OUR LIFE AWESOME!

Hales Rockin' out at caedmon's 2nd b-day that she helped out sooooooooo much with!

Roberta and Caedmon, at his first birthday party

Laura always helping Caedmon

Nate and Olivia rockin' with caed's guitar!

these are some very special shout outs to people who make my life a lot easier and bless my son's life EVERY day!
i am beyond thankful for the people in our family's life. without these people ryan and i wouldn't be able to carry on ministry, social life, or hold down a job! :)
for starters:
caedmon's first and lifelong psuedo-grandma, Roberta -and her family, the tilley's. we are so thankful for all the countless hours that roberta has given her life over to caedmon. she always says, "he's as good as gold." and "is it just that we're biased, or is he really just that cute!" she is in love with him. she is his BERBA. he loves her and her whole family, including her real grandchildren. he has been at her house since he was 7 weeks old for about 6-8 hours a week during the school year. she opened this opporunity up to us when i was pregnant and we'd have been retarded to not accept. it is a blessing and an amazing gift from God. did i mention its all freeeeeeeee :)

the next person that was from MA to really pour into caedmon would be olivia and nate tocci. well, originally olivia hansen :)
she has loved caedmon from the time i told her i was pregnant and the tears streamed down her face. she was his "first kiss" and is completely in love with him. now, she works at the daycare at my school and gets to be with him while he's there. she is a blessing. everyone who knows olivia knows that she is amazing, loving, fun, and just GREAT to be around. she has watched him for us randomly and has always helped when she could. i was priveledged to be in their wedding last year and even though i was the bridesmaid with the baby, we still had a ton of fun. nate and olivia will be amazing parents someday and can practice on caedmon anytime!

a few more special people we got close during my pregnancy with caedmon and have gotten tighter ever since.
Haleigh, Laura, and Ryan.
Hales - or "Hawwwieee" as caedmon would call her is a great friend. she is always willing to play with caedmon and is his biggest fan. she encourages his music and introduced him to things such as; the jonas brothers, the backstreet boys, and various other musical influences that we now hear daily. she SPOILS Caed like a nephew and is as she would say, "obsessed" with him. almost anytime caedmon see hales' car coming down our driveway he screams with excitement. now he says, " i luv you halweee" and it melts her heart. she has watched him for us many a church night and for church meetings, and even date nights. the first time she watched him he was about 6 months old and the love fest hasn't ended yet!
last but, MOST CERTAINLY not least..."waura and wy-nan" Laura n Ryan Wagner.
Caedmon has been in love with laura since he was born, i think. he knew her camera first, probably, but from teh time he learned to rough house he then started to be crazy over Ryan and wanted ryan to come. when he was first speaking he would ask for "waura and wy-nan" and ask if they were "comin?" he continually shows off for them and laura is pretty convinced he is the smartest toddler ever. (he is! :)) he is probably her most photographed subject. she started taking pictures of him at only 5 days old and hasn't stopped, thank God! she always gets the best shot, one in particular i won't ever forget is his valentine this past year with the guitar! she brings out the best in Caed! ryan is a drummer and so is caedmon, so they are soul mates. when caed says, "i got music in my SOOOOUL" ryan can clearly understand. someday he'll teach him drumming. we have spent A LOT of time together these two years. laura and i love to drag him along with us anywhere and he loves to go to their house. the best thing is that NONE of these friends care that we have a baby. it's never, "can you get a sitter?" it's always, "Can you bring caedmon." they all love him so much.

WE LOVE YOU ALL! there are more folks to thank who have blessed us and i'm sure will: Julie T, Jen N, Barbara and Walter,"Soup", - i see it as God's way of giving us a family away from our family. of giving him aunts, uncles, and "Grammas" that he wouldn't really have nearby. he stil sees our family as special and knows these are our friends, but it's just as great. THANKYOUALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH for ALL YOU DO FOR US! Caedmon loves you and we do too! GOD IS SOOOOOOO GOOD!

it doesn't seem real

2009-08-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

there is now way this could be happening!
caedmon is old enough to go to daycare and today is his first day!
wow.
i vividly remember when he was 6 weeks old and i had to attend Teacher Orientation and he had to stay with Roberta for the first time. i was having an anxiety attack. it was crazy. now, hes at DC.
a few things:
1. i'm beyond thankful that this is officially his first day of daycare. he is 2 years 1 month, potty trained, very social, and in the same building as us.
2. he is only going to be there 5 to 10 hours a week and i got a great discount :)
3. OLIVIA, one of the loves of his life, my friend works in the DC and is amazing. she gives me such a sense of peace and i know that he is in the best care.
4. if anything happens, i'm literally 100 steps away from him at any given time.

my heart is still and i'm comfortable with it. i am just so thankful, i can't say it enough...now we'll see what happens after the first few days and we'll see how i feel then...

i'll post a picture later of my little school boy! i had my friend jen take pictures of him while he was in the dc.

picture1: caedmon was so excited because they showed nemo and he told all the kids who al the characters were and pointed them out. adorable!
picture 2: sitting nice for lunch time!
picture3: with his lunchbox ready for daycare. so ADORABLE!

some summer shots

2009-08-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

life...today.

2009-08-19T19:59:00.000-07:00

ABC...Atlanta, Boston, Chicago...this picture just happened. i love when things like this happen. :) makes me smile. the wallpaper that i haven't gotten rid of yet doesn't make me smile however. kitchen remodel is coming this fallllllllll..........very excited!

I love summer. and i love it even more when caedmon says, "summer is fun!" he gets wet everyday, either at a friend's pool or with playing in the hose. drying off ....i love it. just cause.

dinner. summer food is the best. i made peanutty chicken skewers with red peppers, rice, garlicy s&p zucchini/squash, and baby greens with asian seasame salad dressing. it was GOOOOOOOOD. i love to cook, i love to grill, i love love love food. i wish i could just eat all the time. seriously, and i even really like healthy food. ryan always trys to make me eat all the things i don't and won't. he's a bad influence. and so is gary's ice cream...directly across the street.

i have so much to do today, and i never get any sleep. but i am really trying to always live for today and make the best of each moment. i am determined to remember the little things, the best things, not the stresses. i am determined to find JOY each day.
ryan and caedmon are great sources of that :).....so if food!
:)

aha

it was the BEST!

2009-08-19T08:42:00.000-07:00

WHOA! there are no words for seeing ADAM LAMBERT LIVE IN CONCERT!!!

the american idol tour was amazing, matt rocked, danny was great, and then - my love - ADAM!

wow....my mind was blown. he is so amazingly talented.

highlights and lowlights:

1. hanging outside the TD BANKNORTH Garden in 96 degree hot sun, sweating, WAITING for the idols with hales. didn't happen. the one and only show they didn't show their faces because the "areas couldnt' accomidate." we were bummed.

2. bummin' around the gorgeous city of boston with hales...great day

3. dinner at CPK...yummy avacado club eggrolls and lettuce wraps

4. randomly screamin' with excitement just thinkin' about being in the same building as adam freakin' lambert!

5. matt's awesome set...i was overly impressed he "found me"

6. scotts blind jokes about himself...ridiculous and then he sang, "if i could just...seeeee you! TONIGHT!" ahahahah

7. danny...crying at what hurts the most. didn't know i was so sensitive did you?!

8. ADAM! the ROCK GOD! the most amazing performer of all time

9. chillin' with martha and kurt...the couple who sat next to us. in their 40's hillarious and fun. he snuck in a HD video camera!

10. sneakin' in my telephoto lense and a crazy huge brownie to bring home for ryan

11. KRIS WHO? jk...he was good. just couldn't hold his own agaist adam.

12. FAME!!!! WHAt, are you kidding me! my mind was blown on those dance moves.

13. matt's new hair is awesome

14. lil just lost it...not good.