more. . .

Ryan sent me these flowers last Tuesday at work! They are gorgeous!! I loved them!!!!!! My 1st grade team had a baby shower for Brody on that day for the people at work.



This past weekend was just Mommy and Makena time. On Sunday, I braided her hair for church. I thought it looked so cute! I actually got the idea from Maria!


Ok, here it is. . .for all of you who wanted to see Brody. This is on Sunday and I am 35 weeks. I think it is the shirt b/c I am MUCH bigger than this picture shows. (No Lori and Ang, I am not arching my back like we were taught. It just goes like that now!! :) )

Jumping on my trampoline

This is the trampoline we got for her! She loves it so much!!

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are a bunch of pictures from the past month!!! This is Makena's very good friend Connor. I worked with his mom in 1st grade! He and Makena have so much fun together. Here they are pushing each other on the swing and pouring water.

Mommy and Makena

This weekend Ryan is in AZ fofr an annual guys trip so it is just Makena and me! We have been crazy busy since last Saturday because we discovered that we had to fully repaint Makena's room!! So using the PB cat. again, we found something we liked and copied it! Her new furniture arrives this Wednesday so once it is in, I will post a picture of it. That also means that we will have to move our desk out and can finish setting up the nursery. I will also post a picture of it too. Yes, I finally got my camera battery recharger so I just need to start to take some more pictures. At work, I am busy preparing for Open House which is a special night for the children to be the STARS of 1st grade and show off their work. It is also means, that the overachiever in me and Lisa is coming out so our room has things displayed everywhere!!!! We have been stuyding animal types, insects, frog lifecycle, the Rain Forest Habitat, and we will start the Ocean Habiat on Monday. I just LOVE this time due to the cool things we teach. I have also been slowing cleaning out my books and taking home the special ones. Ummm. . . Makena's bookcase is going to be stuffed in a few weeks! This is with me leaving some at work for the sub!!! I guess you could say that I Love Books! Ok, enough about me. . . here's the update:
Brody is moving around tons and tons. I am 35 weeks today so he may join us in just 5 weeks! He is active which is great! Makena talks to him and about him all the time. The cool thing is that when she talks to him, he moves! He recognizes her sweet voice. I have the bassinette (sp?) all cleaned and ready to go. My 1st grade team held a shower for Brody last week and my staff at work just got the cutest things for him. :)
Makena is enrolled in preschool starting in Sept. I told her daycare lady that her last day would be in June at the latest. I am still thinking about just keeping her here with me but recognize that having a place of her own would probably be good for her those first two months. (Not that she would go three times per week) I need to think about it some more. Well, that is all for now. I'll try to post pictures this weekend!

Mar12_001

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Waiting for jury duty

Preschool shopping

After checking out three preschools, I have found one that seems almost perfect! It is a brand new one that is opening in April and will operate a summer program. It will then start a regular school year. (Makena is not eligible until the fall due to her b-day.) This program is called a Project Approach or Emerging Curriculum. My good friend, Katherine, was taught this way in her Child Development classes in college so she has explained it to me. While this place will not be run exactly as I would dream, it sounds great. Sooooo here's the big concern for Ryan. It is a multi-age class for 3-5 year olds. As of right now, Makena would be the youngest and apparently for any school with a Sept. 1st cut off date. Soooo. . .what to do?????????? The price is right, the teacher seems wonderful, the program is what I would want if I taught preschool. . . .hmmmmmmmmm who knew that schools would be do difficult to pick?

where have all the pictures gone?????????????

Our camera battery died and we can't find the charger. Yes, we have LOOKED everywhere and even cleaned out a room and two closets but alas, we will have to order a new one. Today was Makena's last day of parent/tot gymnastics. I videoed some of it and was so proud of her. I am going to brag, brag, brag about her now:
she was very coordinated and the best one in her class. I think this is b/c she was the 2nd oldest though. She absolutly loved her teacher Miss Robin and I too thought highly of her. At the end of class she got a certificate for the class and my eyes filled with tears b/c this is her 1st one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ok, so maybe it is also b/c of the hormones :) ) I did tape it so her daddy could see it tonight. It was a great class and I am so excited that I was able to take it with her. We did not sign up for the next session because it starts right before Brody is due. Maybe we can do it this summer or she just may start gymnastics alone in the fall.
I am going to check out another preschool for her next Tuesday. It is a private, christian one in Corona. I never realized how hard choosing a preschool would be for me. I guess it is because I care sooooo much and know what is coming for her. This is such a busy time at work and at home. I am slowly trying to go through my first grade things to downsize and seperate my things from Lisa's. I am slated for 1st grade again next year, although I will not be there the whole year. I am going to bring home some of my things so the person using my spot does not have to try to work around it. Storage is a problem when you teach year-round. So it is a busy time for us!! (8 weeks and 2 days to go!!!!!!!!! If he comes on his due date. . . )

molars

guess what is coming through????????????????? her two year molars.............fun times at the shepherd household at night. . . oh, and wondering why I haven't posted any pictures in a long time? We can't find the battery charger for our camera. grrrrr... good news: it's FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Early Literacy and the Doctor

Makena has always had a passion for books. At 8 weeks, I started reading to her before every nap and bedtime so she has had the reading experience for a long time. Well, recently she has started "reading" to us. She will choose a story and "read" it to us using words from that story which she has memorized. She will also choose a story and "read" it to us by looking at the pictures and telling us about them. I get so excited because she is using literacy skills at an early age! Makena will put her dolls and stuffed animals to bed and "read" to them. It is too cute! Today, she opened her toddler bible and sang "Jesus Loves Me" and another song while flipping throught the pages. It is great!

Now, here is the doctor part:

This morning I had my 30 week appt. and Makena came with me. While we were there she was so exicted to hear Brody's heartbeat and see me have my blood pressure taken by the nurse. I was able to show her a picture of a 28 week gestational age baby at the DR office and she was fascinated when I told her that is what Brody looks like now. Speaking of Brody, when Makena comes close to my tummy and talks, he moves around so much. Last night he kicked her hand and her face lit up! She asks to hold the baby which means to put her hands on my tummy. Soooo cute!

And his name is. . .

We have decided that our baby boy's name is going to be Brody John Shepherd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 11 weeks to go and he will be here (hopefully)

It's a world of laughter.. .

It was love at first hug! We went to Disney with my friend and her two kids yesterday. (Lb: small world was closed!!!) The sun was bright and it was in the mid 70's. Perfect! Makena has always been unsure of the characters but not yesterday! She hugged a bug and Minnie!!

My mom and dad!

Got Milk?

The only way she'll drink milk is if it is chocolate and in a "cool" cup with a straw. This is Nicholas and Makena at Red Robin where they downed their chocolate milk. I consider chocolate milk a treat so she just eats yogurt and cheese and drinks OJ to get her calcium intake. :)

this is the real scoop

ok, so i was wrong about the bedroom picture. go to potterybarnkids.com and click on girls's rooms. find Jillian and click on it. the way the walls are painted is how we are going to try to do the baby's room. we can't put up a chair rail b/c of the big curved walled and i don't want a solid blue or green room b/c we have those already.

the baby's room

Hey, go to potterybarnkids.com and look at the catelogue (sp?) online. Check out the walls on page 11. I think that is how we will paint the baby's room. (no, we are not having any hanging butterflies!! :) )

Jan20_003

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What have we been doing???

I haven't really written a lot lately because I have been busy. . . potty training and trying to slowly get our house preped to add two more feet. We've had some surprises this month. The biggest one is that we are not moving this year. Ryan's company is not hiring but laying off some people which means that we will be staying in CA for at least another year. (All of our friends out here and Angie were sooooo excited that we were not going to move. :) ) We are ok with it because having a new baby and selling the house was not going to be ideal. Therefore, we are currently trying to figure out some bedroom furniture for Makena because our baby boy will get some of her things, pick out new bedding for her, and transform our office into the baby's room. My sis has volunteered to store some of our office furniture which is wonderful. We are going to lose our guest room though. Hey, there is always the couch, right? :)

opening presents was a blast for her!

Christmas Fun

Here are our pictures from Christmas at the Shepherd's house.

Christmas Surprise

Here is a little poem we gave to our families on Christmas morning:

Rudolph's nose is red

Santa's suit is too,

Makena loves the color pink,

Our new baby will love blue!

We are adding a little boy to our family! We waited until the 10th of December to open the envelope to find out. We had the nurse put it in there just incase we "had" to know and of course, we "had" to know. While I was home, I got to go through my nephews clothes and pick out ones to use. Our little baby is set on sleepers for 0-3 months!!! They were all soooo cute that I had to actually stop myself from taking them all. I guess that is the thing with flying.. . .weight limit. Nicholas had lots of great things for his new cousin to borrow and he kept wanting to see the baby. The next big question is, " what is his name?" Good question!!! We'll let you know after we decide!!! :) We haven't found the perfect name yet! Hope you all had a great holiday! I will post more about the trip this afternoon or tomorrow.

The Helmer Girls

my mom got a new camera for christmas so last night we were trying it out and taking tons of pictures. makena and i are having a great time in michigan. :)

we are here

We are here and having a great time! It is not cold at all and infact, we almost wish it would snow!!! Last night, there was a christmas party at the shepherd's and we played a gift exchange game but you couldn't open the present. Soooo people were stealing just based on what the gift looked like and how it sounded when it was shaken. It was funny and LOTS of people keep stealing gifts. :) Makena is loving spending time with her grandparents and Keirsten. Keirsten is our 15 year old niece and she is just a doll. It has been fun seeing her grow up and change over the past few years. Makena follows her around and loves to play with her. Keirsten got a penguin for her birthday that needed to be stuffed. She waited for Makena to come out and we all went to the place yesterday. Makena made a puppy and bought an outfit for it. She named it. . . brown puppy!!! (yes, just like brown baby) I think she likes brown. :) Well, I will write more later!

We are almost off!!!

Rush, rush, rush. . .all day long! Cramming the last minute laundry in and running the last errands. It seems that every trip takes ALL day to prep for and then pack. But in just a few hours we will be off!!!! YA-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and I am DONE and on vacation for 6 1/2 weeks!!!!!! (this is my LONG one) I am soooooo excited!

Here we (don't) go(?)

Ryan's company has put on another hiring freeze until sometime in the first quarter. This means that we can't scope out what is available, travel to different places in January, choose a place, list our house, and or sell until who knows when. I am feeling quite bummed because, after much though,t I was ready to move out of this house. While I do really like my house, I would like more room. Anyway, we are thinking of just doing an overhaul on the office and turning it into the baby's room, updating Makena's room, and doing away with an office/guest room. We'll have to get a laptop for the computer. I guess in reality a laptop is better than what we have now and it is portable. (So SANTA, that is what we now want for Christmas: a cool laptop and printer. ) The upside to all of this: we will still be by all of our friends and Angela. The downsize. . . where do our guests sleep????????????????????? Oh, well! I am posting this b/c I just went online to look at bedding for the girls or girl/boy to redo their rooms. It is overwhelming out there! There are lots of choices. A former parent of mine owns a children's furniture store. It has very nice things and for two and half years they keep offering me to get stuff. I think we may take it more seriously and look into prices. (It is highend things so I would need to know what kind of deal I could get b/c we are not about to take out a home equity line to get furniture!!!:) ) Anyway, only 9 days till Christmas. I still wonder what Santa will bring Makena. . . better get working on that.

Dec10_003

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straight out of her mouth

Today Makena and I were in the kitchen cleaning up after lunch. It had rained last night and was still partly cloudy outside. Well, the sun was shinning and the sunlight filled our kitchen. Makena was on the floor rocking her babydoll and kissing her when she paused and looked up at me. "Turn the lights back on," she stated. "What?" I asked, feeling confused b/c the lights were never on. "Mommy, turn the lights back on," she insisted. I looked at her and then. . .I got it!! The sun had gone behind a cloud and the kitchen has grown slightly darker. My 2 year old had thought that I had turned the lights off. Crack me up!!!!!!!!!! So i explained to her about the sun hiding behind the clouds and let her turn the kitchen light on. She is hilarious!

Here s/he is!!!

We had our ultrasound on Nov. 30th and all is well with the baby!! This baby is a mover and a shaker!!! I still cannot take prenatal vitamins. I was feeling guilty about not being able to take them so I thought I would try again this morning. UGH!!! I felt so yucky for a few hours. I am 20 weeks now and that means halfway through! Yi-pee! I have had two friends deliver babies this week. Both of them were girls. . . does this mean that we are having a girl? Speaking of what it is. . .last night at Ryan's work Christmas party everyone kept guessing. They all seem to think it is a boy b/c of the way I am carrying. Either way, we'll be happy!! Although, I have already warned Ryan that if this is a girl, I will be dressing Makena and the baby alike!!! ( I love being the mom!)

***Doesn't the baby look like an alien on that screen? Seriously, I am not being mean but look at it!! In another ultrasound picture he/she is just sooooooo cute!!!!

Merry Christmas Early

We held Christmas last weekend with my family. Here are some pictures from that night! Makena really got into helping everyone open their presents. I think the 25th is going to be sooo much fun. . . now, Santa just needs to figure out what he is going to get her!!!!!!

update on the fenderbender

Ok, so the lady's insurance took full responsiblity. Yea for us! I am fine and so is Makena. Alls well that ends well, eh?

Dec06_002

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Are you SERIOUS???

Makena and I said good-bye to Papa and Mimi this morning and then headed to Auntie's school to buy some MK. After visiting we hopped in the "new" expedition and headed to my friend's house for a playdate. As I am driving, I come to a stoplight. I stop and glance in the rearview mirror where I see a lady with funny looking hair. Well, the next thing I know. . .BAM!!!!! These are my thoughts: what?? oh my gosh!! ARE YOU SERIOUS??????????????? Is Makena ok? It's a new to us car!!!!! So here's what happened: the funny hair lady decided to go and went into the backend of my car!! Yes, she stepped on the gas and smashed into us! I started freaking out just a tad!! So I called 911 and told them to send everyone b/c of Makena (who seemed ok) and I had never been in an accident before. Well, then I call my friend and tell her that I will be a bit late to the playdate and she says she is coming immediatly to help with Makena. Then I call Ryan and am slowing calming down. The lady gets out of her car and this guy yells, take a picture and then you can move out of the way. (Yea right, I am not about to move from an accident.) Well, the lady says she can't because her car is locked up and undrivable. Ok, so I say hi to the lady and WHAT HAPPENED?? (inside, I felt like saying, you dumb ***!! What were you thinking?? but I did not say anything like that!!!!) The firetruck came and the police and check out Makena and me. They tell me that I should probably go to the ER b/c of the baby. (AHHHHH????) So my friend arrives and takes Makena to her car while I finish with the police. (they were so nice and helpful. I was very impressed!!) I exchange info with the lady and she says to call her and let her know how the baby is doing. (I think she may have started to freak out a bit when she realized she smashed her car up into another car with a toddler and pregnant lady in it.) Ok, so my wonderful friend takes Makena to here house for the morning/afternoon so I can drive 45 min to the ER hospital where my OB works. I have to retell my story and after waiting with Ryan for about an hour, I finally go back. They hear the heartbeat and all is well. So basically my whole day was shot all b/c of this lady with funny hair who wasn't paying attention. GRRRRR. . . . The upside to all of this??? I got to have lunch with Ryan, sort of like a date and we met this neat lady in the ER. Anyway, my big car is damaged but not that bad. Her car is damaged pretty bad. I will post a picture from my camera phone of her car.

tis the season

of the holiday letter and cards. I have sent our cards to be made and will be picking them up later this week. I am happy with the card but just can't seem to get motivated to write the Christmas letter. I love to read them with each card and usually I write one. But. . . I think I may skip it this year. oh, for those of you who know Lori, check out her blog and my little neice and nephew. They are crack ups!!!

being sick

being sick is not fun. i am bored of laying around and sleeping and resting but i know i need it. good news, even though i was sick and ughy the baby is fine. he/she moved alllllllll day long. we have the ultrasound on thursday. . . .will we find out??? i dont know. a small tiny part of me wants to know but a huge part doesnt.....hmmmm....oh and now we dont know about the move b/c i have no way to travel after february. sooo should we travel in jan? i guess i will need a doctors note. we need to be able to check out various places. this is kind of frusturating b/c we both want to move to a larger house/yard and yet we dont want to leave our friends. oh well. i am firm believer in whats meant to be will happen. no worries. . . ok, i am getting up off the couch and going to make the beds. i cannot stand having the beds unmade!!!!!!!!!!! plus i need to move a little or else i wont sleep tonight.

88 degrees

Yes, it is 88 degrees out here! It is 13 degrees above normal. I need a new winter coat that will cover me and the baby but I am TOOOOO hot to even think of snow. On Friday we went to the beach for cooler temps. It was solid cloud cover about 2 blocks from the beach but the rest of so cal was solid sun. Crazy eh? Even with the cloud it was still about 72 degrees or so. We all had a blast!!!

Musical Munchkins

Once a week, Makena and I go to her music class for 45 minutes. It is amazing. I have posted about it before so I won't go into detail. Here are some pictures from her last class:

uhhh this is little overwhelming

Last night we had a realtor come over with her husband to give us some advice on preping our house to be sold in the spring. When the doorbell rang, I slowly walked to the front door and opened it to a sweet smiling couple. We introduced ourselves and they walked into my house. Immediatly they both commented on Makena's 2 year old picture sitting on top of the entertainment center. Then they moved to the pictures on top of the mantel. They commented on each one before gazing around the room. The realtor comments began at that moment: is all the light in this room. . . hmmmm. . . we can change that; i think this yellow is too light absorbing. . . i'll have to see it when it is not so dreay outside; we'll get my son out here to arrange the furniture; let's head to the backyead and . . . you need to trim these plants. . . anything that looks dead needs to go. . .throw it away because you do not need to move the (beautiful) palms; you know my gardener once painted my grass green; now ryan needs to paint this and this and this and this. . . . . . . . . . .(here's me:AHHHHHHHHHHH!) Back to the inside of the house:
oh, we need to add light; have you considered painting the bathroom white (this is the one we JUST painted a light tan which she LOVED in the other bathroom); oh, i think this blue will work; yes, this green to too light absorbing but we can just add some lamps. . . . .(it went on and on and on and on.)
So while I was prepared for these comments b/c I had been warned by my sis, Ryan was a bit taken back. When they finally left, after two hours, we were both exhausted with the list of things to do. Now here's the ironic thing: we had another realtor who sells the majority of homes in our community come and look at our house. She said our house was great and to just change the tub fixtures. She did not mention light, paint, plants, etc. . . So there you have it. Two people in the same profession both working for Century ** and yet with two different opinions. I fell asleep last night trying not be to overwhelmed.

WHY

Why is it that when I am not pregnant all of the maternity clothes look so cute and stylish yet when I am pregnant they look frumpy??????? I have searched three stores today and got three pairs of pants. But I need some shirts!!!!!! I think I may venture out and order online. . .

hopes and dreams

As a college student I took a class where I had to spend the semester observing, documenting, and writing a case study on a four year old child. One of the requirements was to interview the child's parent(s) to gain a deeper understanding of the child. I sat in an immaculately clean house in the upper economical area surrounding my college chatting with this parent one afternoon. I had asked numerous questions and she politely answered each one when I came to one that sort of shocked me. I asked her where she saw her child headed in the future. Without even pausing to think about it, she firmly stated that he would graduate from a strong university, go on to get his masters degree, and then attend law school. She looked at me and said, "We believe in higher education." As a college student I "rationally" thought that this parent was obviously overbearing and the poor kid couldn't even make a decision for himself. Flashforward to the present.. . Ryan and I were discussing our kids the other day and what we wanted for them. We both firmly agreed that they would attend college, get a degree in 5 years, get a job, and then a MA. (Sounds a little like that lady, eh???) After thinking and more discussing, we decided that it would be ok if they went to a vocational route as long as they had training and were not just barely getting through life. Maybe that lady wasn't so consuming after all. I mean, we all have hopes and dreams for our kids. We want them to succeed in life and to have fun. We want them to find a passion and love for others or something. I think that we as parents feel responsible for the success or failure of our children. Reality is that kids are going to have ups and downs, be great in something and not so great in others. It is up to us to love them through all of these things, guide, direct, and teach them. Anyway, that was just my thought for the night as I headed back in my LONG car ride. The picture below is at CarMax where we sold my Focus. . . alas, my first car that I purchased on my own is now gone. (It was about to bite the dust anyway.) Instead of the lemon car that I did love at times, we now have a gas guzzling, bad for the environment, huge beast of a SUV. . .an expedition!!!! Ta-da!!! I am now ready for the double stoller and second carseat. . . which will turn into a third carseat in a few more years. . . and then who knows!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Nov08_001

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Trck or Treat

Happy Halloween! Makena went trick or treating around the neighborhood with us. She was a princess ballerina and simply precious! She actually wore her costume to four events so she got a lot out of it!!! Her costume made me want to put her in dance. . .plus she likes to dance.

More!!

Pumpkin Carving with Grandad!



Grandad and Nana came to visit and took lots of pictures with their camera! These are just a few I took of them carving a pumpkin. Makena was interested for about 3 minutes and then John had to do the rest by himself!! (Thanks John!!!!)

I am alive!!

Our trip to Oak Glen. . .we picked apples and pressed our own cider!! It was delicious!



It has been a long time since I have written. October was a very busy month for me b/c I had parent teacher conferences for a week and to prep for them takes about a week. Plus I had to work a TON! Currently I am full-time teacher and I am POOPED! I had to work for two weeks to make up days for my contract with my partner. . . alas she is wonder and is going to work all four weeks in June so I do not have to return with a tiny newborn!! Anyway, I will post lots of pictures and some captions! I promise that once the next week is over I will keep blog update!!!