rock painting

One night we went for a walk to find rocks for painting. Makena had a blast searching for "good" rocks. When we came home, she went to town painting the rocks blue and green!

Birthday Party Girl

Last weekend was the birthday party weekend. Two of Makena's friends had celebrations on Saturday and Sunday. Since I was sick, Ryan played "super dad" and took her to both parties. The parties were fantastic I was told by Makena; she had a wonderful time! This weekend our only plan is to say good-bye to mimi and papa and learn to survive w/o them...hmmmm...

four weeks and going strong

Brody was four weeks last Sunday and is getting stronger each day. He is gaining strength a lot with his head. I got super sick last Friday night so I was thankful to hear that my parents trip to Napa was cancelled for this week. I was so sick that I couldn't do anything for three days or so. Lesson learned: the mommy cannot get sick!!! So guess what? I took vitamins tonight and am going to start REALLY taking them. That will help me function better. . .right?

Fast forward to today: I discovered the Mary Kay facial highlighter!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW! It is great and amazing. I recommend it to people everywhere. So I am adding it to my collection of fabulous products from MK that I use on a daily basis. Thanks to my consultant!!!! :) Well that is all for now b/c Brody Bear is crying . . .more on this nickname later~~

3 weeks old

Brody is three weeks old now!

scooter girl

My dad brought out a scooter for Makena in his suitcase. (He assembled it when he got here.) Here she is riding it. She is not too sure of it; I think she'll really take off on it when here cousins Nicholas and Savannah show her how to do it!

Proud Sister

Makena is so proud of Brody and is very sweet to him. She is all about helping which is so cute! Brody is doing wonderful!! He now weighs 9 lbs 4 oz and is 21 inches long. Today he turned 3 weeks old! We went to church where he slept the whole time :) and then to lunch for Mother's Day. Both Makena and Brody were great at the restaurant which is always a blessing! :) Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

Our New Little Addition

Brody John arrived on Sunday April 22nd at 6:24 p.m. He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and is 20 inches long. Brody is just a sweet baby! Makena loves being a big sister and is very "proud" to have a little brother. She is very gentle with him and loves to give him "pats".

It's Offical

Today was my last day teaching and my offical career change begins tomorrow. I am giving myself the night off!!! (ok, not really but. . . ) It doesn't seem real yet however, I did have a break down yesterday about whether this was right for me. I called my sister Lori and she helped me through it. I sent a good-bye letter to my students and all of the staff at my school. I am off until the 2008-2009 school year and then I can choose to come back or resign fully. Today, my partner Lisa came in and threw a wonderful good0bye/baby shower for me with the first graders. It was great!! She and our room mom had games for the kids and treats. It was a great party and a neat way to include them. Brody is due in 11 days so I may be able to get some rest before he joins us. :) I am going to fully enjoy relaxing and doing last minute preparations.

More of easter

Here is the actual Easter Sunday pictures. We went to church and then did an egg hunt at our house. The EB left a trail of chalk for Makena to follow to find her Easter basket and surprises!

Easter 2007

Our church held a huge egg hunt and mini carnival on the sat. before easter. It was a lot of fun! Here a some pictures of the petting farm and egg hunt!

SD Zoo

We went to the San Diego Zoo last week and had a blast. Makena loved all of the animals but was fascinated by the giraffees. The only bad things were the STEEP hills.

The shower

Here are some pictures from the wonderful babyshower!!

The room

The first time she slept in her bed! This is at nap time yesterday. We do not have a twin mattress yet or sheets so she slept on her crib mattress. I think we should get one tonight. The set up did not work and later that night, we moved it around. Here you can see the stripes on her wall and how the bedroom is actually set up. This is not how the room will look once we the things on the wall and her bedding. We are going to get some light green accents b/c it is very pink!

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

This is an MMS message.
2006 Sprint Nextel. All rights reserved
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

This is an MMS message.
2006 Sprint Nextel. All rights reserved

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.