The Marchbank Family

Feb. 3, 2011--Welcome Connor Aiden Marchbank!

2011-03-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

The birth story:

On Feb. 2, my day was filled with Dr. appointments. That morning, I had an appointment with my family practice doctor. to get antibiotics for an ear and chest infection. Then that afternoon, my OBGYN appointment to see when our second son was coming.

At my appointment, she informed me I was already 4 cm dilated and 30% effaced. As with Jared, she said she thought I would deliver within the next 48 hours (she was right with Jared) and to go to the hospital when I was having regular contractions 7 minutes apart for one hour. She said second babies are born quicker and the labor can feel different (which it was)!

An hour later, my contractions we 15 minutes apart. My mom was off work that day and came over to my house. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond so I could walk around for a little bit, but my contractions started picking up so we picked up Jerry from home, then picked up Jared from preschool and went to Wahoo's for dinner. I was having contractions 3-5 minutes apart (not painful) the whole time at dinner. My mom wanted us to go to the hospital right from there but I wanted to go home first (I think she was nervous that I wouldn't make it to the hospital)!

On the way home, I called the on-call Dr. and she told me to wait 20 more minutes and if my contractions were still regular, to come to the hospital. Indeed they were so we headed to the hospital and arrived around 7:30 p.m. I still hadn't had one painful contraction but they were very close together!

Because I was already 4 cm, they checked me into the hospital and monitored me. My water still had not broke so they called in the laborist to break by water. This is when the painful contractions started. After he broke my water, I was in SOOOO MUCH pain and asked my mom and Jerry to call to get me the epidural ASAP! It was in by around 10:30 p.m. and I had only progressed to a 5! I was so mad--I went through all that pain for 1 small cm!!! Luckily, once my epidural was in place, I progressed very quickly. They checked me a little after 1 a.m. and I was at a 10 and ready to push. They called the on-call Dr. to come to deliver me and she was on her way--except Connor decided he wanted to come out NOW! As soon as they turned my on my back to prep me to start pushing, he literally fell out! They nurse called the laborist to come deliver me ASAP as the Dr. still wasn't there and he was coming without me pushing at all! The laborist came in and then right behind him, the on-call doctor. She didn't even have time to put on any protective (or sterilized) gear except for gloves. She put on gloves and out he went with not one push!

Checking his vitals

7 lb. 4 oz.

Eyes open for the first time

On February 3, 2011, at 1:39 a.m., we welcomed our second son, Connor Aiden Marchbank into this world. He was born 11 days early (same as Jared), weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. (same as Jared) and was 19.5 inches long (Jared was 20 inches but had a cone head).

This is Connor

This is Jared at about the same age as Connor

Jared visiting us at the hospital watching Connor get his first bath!

The Marchbanks as a family of 4

My two son's and I

Stay tuned for more pictures as a family of 4 and Connor's newborn photo shoot.

Halloween and Remodel Update

2010-11-15T16:47:00.000-08:00

Halloween

For Halloween this year, we went to downtown Huntington Beach with the McCoy family. Halloween was also our moving day, so they were nice enough to let us hang out at their house for the evening. Jerry and I weren't in the mood to dress up but the McCoys looked so great in their costumes!

The Marchbank Family Halloween 2010

The city closed down Main Street and turned it into a family festival with bounce houses, trick-or-treating and vendors. I think everyone with kids in Huntington Beach was there. We also saw one of Jerry's co-workers, Bill with his daughter Abby. We had dinner down there as well--a fun night with friends!

The McCoy Family Halloween

Bill, Abby, Jared and Jerry

Baby Dean

Remodel Update

We are now two weeks into our room addition remodel and of course there have been some set backs. Our contractor made some great progress the first week and was already ready for our first inspection at the end of the first week. The city inspector was very difficult and wouldn't approve the foundation work due to the underground foundation looking different to what the engineer had drawn (a very common thing in construction since no one has x-ray vision) and usually the inspector will do an on-site approval. Not this inspector. He made our engineer redraw and resubmit the changes which has delayed us about a week.

First floor, Jared's old room and attic

Foundation work

Our "sky light" or no roof. This is where the new room will be.

Jared's old room with one wall missing. Getting ready to add the third room.

The view from inside Jared's old room

Stay tuned for more updates as the project continues and wish us luck for passing inspection so we can continue construction and get it done before I have this baby in 10-12 weeks!

Construction Adventure and 23 weeks

2010-10-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

For the past month and a half, we have been going through the motions to add a second story third bedroom to our current home in Huntington Beach. So far, we have had an architect do the design, an engineer do the structural plans, submitted the plans to the city and hired a contractor. Tuesday the city came back with the revisions they want done and our architect says she and the engineer needs another week to make these changes. Then she has to resubmit the updated plans back to the city and we play the waiting game for them to approve our permit to start construction. Our target start date is November 1.

So for weeks we have been prepping our house for this major project.

First, we had to completely empty our attic which had over 5 1/2 years of stuff in it. Then we had to go through each box and decide what we were keeping, what we were tossing and what was going to our garage sale. We had our garage sale last weekend which went great, and what we didn't sell went to Good Will.

Next we took everything off our walls (mostly pictures). Our last major undertaking is packing boxes.
Jerry will still have some kitchen prep work to protect our appliances, cabinets and granite from being damaged before the demo starts but we are almost there!

Doesn't all this work and planning make you tired? Now add into the mix that I am 23 weeks pregnant with our second son and it makes this even more exhausting. Plus Jerry and I both work full time and have a very active 2 1/2 year old who is probably wondering what the heck is going on. Thank goodness for my mom who has helped us watch him while we did a lot of this prep work! Thanks mom--we love you.

Needless to say, I know all this work will be worth it when it is done. We will have more space for our growing family and it will add more equity to our home. Stay tuned as this adventure continues....

Of course I couldn't finish my post without a picture of my little man playing with his favorite things--cars and trucks.

August Summer Fun

2010-09-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it is already September and I am just now posting about August! We had a busy and very fun August.

We have a lot to celebrate in August (birthday's & Jerry and my 6th wedding anniversary) on my side of the family so went to dinner to celebrate my sister's 22nd birthday and my dad's birthday.

The Rassp Family (My dad, his wife Denise, and my Grandpa & Grandma with Jared)

A group of mom friends and all the kids got together to go to The Splash Pad at Sigler Park in Garden Grove.

It is a fun place to take kids in the summer time although Jared and Noah weren't too sure about actually going into the cold water. They just liked observing from afar.

We took Jared to Sea World for the first time with Jerry's mom, Carla, which he just LOVED! He wasn't too sure about going on the rides as you can tell by the look on his face while he was waiting in line with Grandma Carla, but the Elmo's world play area was a huge hit! We had to drag him out to try and see the animals/shows.

He wanted to go give Elmo a hug--so cute!

Playing in the water fountain in the Elmo's play area.

We went to see the 4-D Elmo show as well which he thought was scary (this picture was taken before the show actually started). He wanted out of that theater so bad and kept saying "all done now!" We saw the Shamu show which he also didn't like but he loved seeing the dolphin show and the sea lion show. I think the big splashes Shamu makes scared him too.

We had a great day but were all so tired at the end of the day (me being pregnant and Jared having no nap). Jared fell asleep the minute the car turned on.

Some exciting news...

2010-07-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

This post is long over due, but we have been crazy busy all summer long.

We are very excited to announce we are pregnant with baby #2 which means Jared will be a big brother! We decided to share this news early on with family and friends, so at my Grandma's birthday party, I gave her a very special gift which I am pretty sure she loved.

Her reaction....priceless. I had my sister capture the moment for me since she was the only one other than Jerry who knew our little secret.

I purchased a frame for her that fits two 5x7 photos. Once my mom saw her reaction she instantly wanted to know what all the excitement was about. Here is her reaction.

So our second bundle of joy who I will call our "love child" is due on Valentine's Day (hence the name)--which means two kids with February birthdays. I guess you never know-- he or she could come early since Jared did, but I doubt 14 days early! We will see!

Stay tuned to to find out soon if Jared will be having a brother or a sister!

Our First Family Vacation

2010-06-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last month, our family got to go on our first big vacation on a Caribbean cruise. Last year when Jared was about 18 months old, we were supposed to go to Hawaii with my mom and sister but Jared got sick with an ear infection and we were told not to fly.

So with the airline credit we had, we decided to fly to Tampa and our ship left from the Port of Tampa. Carnival cruise lines has a kids club starting at age 2 which is nice so mom and dad can get a little vacation time as well. Too bad he didn't like going there very much or we would have taken him more often!

Jared did so great on the airplane and loved watching them take off at the airport while we were waiting to board the plane. He is such a good little traveler. He only slept for 45 minutes on the way to Tampa and a little over an hour on our way back to OC. We brought our MacBook and his favorite move--Disney's Cars--to entertain him when he got antsy toward the end of the flights but we never had any tears which was great!

Jared loved sleeping in a hotel room (our first night in Tampa before boarding the cruise ship).

My boys relaxing by the pool waiting to leave Tampa!

Our cruise had four stops--The Grand Cayman Islands, Rotan in Honduras, Cozumel in Mexico and Belize City in Belize. Our first stop in the Grand Cayman Islands we went to Turtles, Turtles and more Turtles. It was a fun excursion where you got to pick up the turtles and you could even go swim with them (and all their poop so we opted not to with the baby).

The largest turtle was over 600 lbs!

After the turtle tour, they had a lagoon you could swim in or lounge at which was great because it was so hot and humid there!

Our next port was Cozumel. We went to this awesome beach called Paradise Beach and as you can see it truly was! All the fun slides and climbing walls you see in the background could be rented for the day, they had food and bar service, massages, jet skis and much more all right there. We all had a great time in Cozumel.

Our next port of call was Rotan, Honduras which was just beautiful. It is a new destination for cruise ships and I loved it there. We went to another beach called Mahogany Bay and it was also beautiful.

Doesn't the picture below look like a postcard? They had ski lifts they called the flying chair lifts that took you from the port down to the beach but if was a very quick walk.

After the beach, we had lunch at the only restaurant. Do you think Jared is tired? I love this picture...

On the ship, Jared liked to play miniature golf with his dad, eat ice cream cones and run around like a crazy man! I think he knew his way around the ship better than we did. :-)

Our final port was to Belize. Our original plan was to leave Jared at the kids club so we could go do an adventurous excursion but Daddy decided he didn't want to do that last minute so we all went to Belize. We ended up just looking at all the shops but not doing anything there which I was pretty upset about. I mean, how often do you get to go to Belize? Oh well, next time when we go without children some day.

The rest of our trip was spent swimming and relaxing at the pool. As you can see, Jared loved this part!

Our little "swimmy fish" as we call him now. You would never know that two weeks prior, he was scared to death of the water! Thank God for those swimming lessons I enrolled him in prior to our trip!

Our first family vacation was a lot of fun and adventure! I am glad we were able to go and spend the time with our adorable son. We will always have these memories to cherish.

So would I do a cruise with a toddler again? Absolutely! Next time, I think it would be fun to go with a larger group of friends and family. Maybe a Disney cruise next? Who's coming?

YP and the chatter box

2010-05-02T13:30:00.001-07:00

YP--you may be asking what YP is. YP stands for Young Preschool at the OCC Harry and Grace Steele child care center. Jared has graduated from the toddler program and is now in the YP class (ages 2 - 3). In mid April, most of the toddler program got moved into the YP class due to a new classroom being added for an after school program. This has allowed for more room in the other classrooms. This transition has not been an easy one. He is now in a completely new room with all new teachers and has has a tough two weeks. Friday was the first day in two weeks that he didn't scream when I left. It just breaks my heart to hear him like that, but the teachers say he stops crying as soon as he can't see me anymore. He hasn't been napping well at school either (but has been taking 3 hour naps at home). Jacob, his best friend at school, is also in the YP program now, so he does better when he is there with him. I am hoping this week we have no more tears.

Jared has finally started talking--a lot! He has been saying words for a long time, but now he puts three or more words together and says new words every day! Some of my favorites are "cool truck dude," "see ya OD" (or OJ as Jerry calls him), "ah man", "no, no fireworks" (He loves going to the Angel games but doesn't like the loud fireworks), and "I go in dada cuck" (or truck). There are many more phrases but these he says so cute.

One of my favorite things to do lately is listen to Jared and Jerry ready together before bed. They just sit in the rocking chair and read books together. Jared knows a lot of the words from his favorite books (Engine, Cars and Trucks) so most nights, Jared reads (some of the words) to Jerry. They also sing songs together--my personal favorite is "Sweet Caroline". Jerry says, "Sweet Caroline," and Jared goes, "ba ba ba". Jerry: "Good times never seem so good" Jared: "So good, so good." It is soooo cute!

Jared has also become a huge fan of building things with blocks. He loves when Jerry or I make it really talk and then he gets to knock it down.

I am just loving this age (most of the time). Don't get me wrong, he has his fair share of temper tantrums, but he has so much personality, is such a happy boy and gives us so much love and joy every day.

Jared's turns 2 part 2

2010-03-31T13:25:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff were nice enough to host Jared's second birthday party for the family. He had such a great time as you can see by his expression. She made yummy lasagna, salad and homemade bread sticks--yum!

My Grandma got him an ice cream cake with trucks on it (his favorites--trucks and ice cream). This time, he did better when we all sang happy birthday to him (no surprised look on his face like from party number one). Now he starts singing the happy birthday song when he wants ice cream.

Jared is a very lucky (and spoiled) little boy. He got so many great gifts that he just loves. Anything that is a mode of transportation (car, truck, airplane, train) or Elmo are perfect gifts for him. I think his favorite that night was the Elmo--what do you think?

Jerry's dad, Grandpa Chip, got Jared a petal car for his birthday which he absolutely loves! He thinks it is so cool to drive his car around the neighborhood and refers to it as a "cool car." I think it is a cool car too--thanks Grandpa Chip!
Happy Birthday baby boy! I can't believe you are two--I love you!

Jared turned 2...

2010-03-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

On February 29, 2008, our amazing son Jared was born. Yep he is a leap day baby--a very special boy who will be forever young.

So each year when his birthday comes close, everyone asks us which day we celebrate it on. I think Jerry has the best theory on the subject. He says if you are an English person, you will say to celebrate it on Feb. 28 because technically, he was born in February; if you are a math person, you would celebrate it on March 1 because he was born the day after Feb. 28. I say it is a great excuse to celebrate it on both days. What do you think?

The day of his birthday party (Feb. 27) was pouring rain! My grandparents bought him a train table for his birthday so Jerry and our friend AJ put it together while Jared was napping. These pictures are his reaction to seeing the train table for the first time. (I think he liked it).

Jared LOVES Elmo so we decided on an Elmo theme. This is the awesome cake my friend Sarah made. Her company is called Brady Cakes and she makes every kind of cakes, cupcakes and cookies you can come up with. Thanks again Sarah for this FANTASTIC cake! Check out the video below for his funny expression when we sang Happy Birthday to him.

Despite the rain, I think everyone had a good time crammed into our small house. I am glad most of our friends and my dad's family could all make it to celebrate his special day.

This year, Jared actually liked opening his gifts and I didn't have to do it for him. :-) He got so many great toys and new clothes for the summer. Thanks everyone!

Stay tuned for birthday celebration #2 with my mom's side of the family and Jerry's dad!

Four Christmases...well five in our case but with a twist

2010-01-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

Well it is the middle of January already and I am just now posting all our holiday pictures. We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas so the entire month of December is spent going from one family party to another kind of like the movie Four Christmases.

Party #1: Christmas at our house

Jared's favorite new toy!

Wow! Look at all those cars! Thanks Grandpa Dave!

Helping us decorate the Christmas tree.

Party #2: Hanukkah in Northridge

Me and my handsome little man!

I love my dada!

My favorite gift of the night....Elmo! Thanks Great Grandma Bev and Great Grandpa Herman!

Playing on the grand piano!

Me and papa Greg

Party #3-Hanukkah at our House

My favorite gift was the razor scooter from Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff!

Not sure what they were all looking at but it must have been important!

#4: Christmas Eve at Great Grandma Marla's House

Thank you for hosting Christmas Eve Grandma Marla!

Jared and Uncle Justin

Party #5: Christmas Day

My Uncle Garrett gave me this cool car with a kayak on it!

My Grandpa Chip got me such a cool guitar! I love to play it with my dada!

Relaxing on the couch with my dad and new toys!

Last year Jared was only 10 months old during the holidays so we had to open his gifts for him and he just didn't really know what was going on. This year was so much fun to see him open all his gifts and get so excited with each one as well as interact with all our family. We really appreciate all the generous gifts and hospitality from everyone this past holiday season. We hope everyone has a happy 2010!

21 months & a lot to be thankful for

2009-12-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

Jared is now 21 months old and officially in his "terrible twos". He throws temper tantrums daily when he doesn't get his way. Mommy has been going a little crazy trying to deal with him some days. Good thing he is SO cute!

Despite the temper tantrums, Jared is also our little lover boy. He is a very affectionate little boy and will give us kisses whenever we ask for one (well most of the time we ask for one) which is so great and makes up for all the hard times.

Jared is talking more and more every day too (some words more clear than others). I think any day now he will start putting more than two words together. We also recently put away his high chair and put him in a booster which he loves!

Thanksgiving 2009

This year, we went with my Dad's side to Thanksgiving. Jared is so lucky to have not only amazing grandparents, but many great grandparents as well. Below is my dad's parents on Thanksgiving.

We missed all our other family members this Thanksgiving (we have a lot of family, so we are on a rotation) but had a great time this year in LA with my dad and the whole gang! We ate amazing food and I got to hold the newest member of the family Nina (my step sister's baby girl). Jared wasn't a huge fan of me holding her, but was obsessed with the baby and acted very worried when she cried. It was very cute.

My Dada and I on Thanksgiving.

My Auntie Allison and I on Thanksgiving

This is another one of Jared's great Grandma's (we call her GG)! He is so lucky to have not one great grandma, but 4 of them!!

What can I say about my mom--I am so thankful for her in so many ways. She is our saving grace for many free nights of babysitting, she has given me some great mom advice, she is one of my best friends and most of all, she loves Jared so much (what a lucky boy...he is so blessed to have so much family who loves him).

We are also so thankful for our great friends. One of our best friends are the McCoy's. We switch off doing date nights every other Friday which is great for so many reasons. One--this gives us both FREE babysitting. Two--we get a night to relax with our husbands child free. And three-- the boys get to play together. We just discovered Noah loves cars just like Jared!

I am also so thankful for my wonderful husband. He is such a great dad, husband, brother and friend! He works so hard to provide us with what we need and want out of life. We have been together for over 12 years and I love him more each day! Jared looks up to him so much and they are two peas in a pod!

20 Months and October Fun!

2009-11-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

October has been quite a busy month for the Marchbank Family. Between work, family and friends, it is never a dull moment! The month started with a huge event I help put on at work (over 600 gymnasts and their families) followed by a trip to Arizona for web site training for a few days. While I was away in AZ, Jared's school called me saying he was not acting like himself (crying a lot and acting very sad) and wanted to know if something was different in his routine. I informed them I was away for work (and he saw me leave luggage and all) and was probably just missing his mommy. We are so lucky he goes to such a wonderful place that notices these things about our child and called right away. I was able to catch an earlier flight home to see my boys and all was well with him again (he just missed his mommy).

The weekend I came back from AZ, we spent a lot of family time (something we had been lacking for the past few weeks). We took Jared to the Irvine Railroad park and pumpkin patch (which is an awesome place to take your kids by the way). He had such a great time--he went on his first pony ride, picked out his pumpkin, jumped in the bounce house and spent quality time with his mommy and daddy. After the park, we stopped at Grandpa Greg's and Grandma Denise's house to say hi too.

For Halloween, Jared dressed up like a Dalmatian doggie (thank you Grandma Carla for the box of costumes!). We tried on the costume a few days before Halloween to make sure it fit and he cried when it was time to take it off! We explained that in a few days, he would get to wear it again and he seemed OK with that.

Our friends Lindsay, Eric and Noah invited us to tag along with them on Halloween. We went to her sister's sister-in-law's house who also has a little boy Nick (the one in the skeleton costume). It was so much fun to see all the kids in their costumes and Jared had a great time.

Now that Jared is 20 months old, he is really starting to talk a lot! He is like our parrot--whatever we say, he repeats. Every day his words become more clear and vocabulary a bit larger--I love hearing him trying to communicate. With this new found vocabulary also comes some temper tantrums. Many times (OK all the time) he knows what he wants but doesn't know how to communicate it yet, which frustrates him (and me) and those terrible twos start to emerge. Overall, he is such a little love--we call him our little love bug--he is always giving everyone hugs and kisses and is just the sweetest little boy. We love him so much!

Jared the Dalmatian doggie--Halloween 2009

Joys of having a toddler

2009-10-10T12:59:00.001-07:00

Jared is now 19.5 months old and is such a toddler! He is now way past the walking stage--he runs everywhere!

He is learning and trying to say so many new words each day. If we ask him if he can say a word, he tries his best and sometimes the word comes out clear. We are teaching him to use his manners--please and thank you and so far, he is doing great. If we ask him to ask nicely he says "pees" or please and "tank you" which is so cute!

He also makes a lot of animal noises--he can bark like a dog, roar like a lion, moo like a cow and quack like a duck. Any animal we say, "what does a ____ say" and he tries to mimic the sound we do. Jared can also put two words together--"Hi Dada" are the two he says most. Sometimes he will say "Hi Nana" and for the first time yesturday he said "Hi Mama". He also says "more please."

Jared also loves to jump--on a bed, bounce house or trampoline. He is getting very good at it and jumps with both feet at the same time which is a milestone that a lot of kids don't get until much older (I know since I used to teach gymnastics to 3-5 year-olds).

Jared can also drink from a straw and is getting very good at feeding himself with a spoon and fork (with the left hand like mommy).

At the football game with my daddy--one of my favorite things!

On the not so cute side of toddler hood, Jared likes to throw food and is already throwing temper tantrums (I thought this was supposed to happen at 2 or later?) He gets in trouble at school and at home regularly for throwing the food he doesn't want on the floor across the room. He knows he isn't supposed to do it, but does it to see our (or the teachers) reaction. I am hoping he will out grow this phase quickly with some regular disciple.

We are so lucky to have such a smart, healthy and handsome little boy! We can't wait to see what comes next.

18 months-WOW!

2009-09-05T12:32:00.001-07:00

On Aug. 31, Jared had is 18 month check up and boy has he done some growing in the last three months! Jared is now 34 1/4 inches tall and 27 lb. 4 oz! The Dr. says he is in the 95th percentile in height and 60-65th in weight (although with that belly of his I don't know how he is only in the 60th! His head is in the 90th as well. We have a big boy on our hands!

Now that he is a very active year-and-a-half, I thought I would take the time to describe some of his favorite things to do. Being a very large child, the first thing he love to do is eat! He eats so much and I don't know where he puts it. He eats more than me a lot of the time. I am going to have to keep on working to pay for all this food!

Another favorite is bath/water play. Last night we watched our friend's son Noah so we gave them a bath together and they had a blast! Noah would hand Jared a toy and Jared would say "tank tooo" which means "thank you". It was so adorable!

Here he is playing with the outdoor water faucet. Forget the blow up pool--he is just as happy to play with that for an hour or more or run through the sprinklers.

The park is another favorite past time. We go to this park by our house very frequently. He loves going down the slides all by himself and of course going on the swings. But the best thing about this park is all the people who live by it, bring their dogs there to run around since land space is sparse in downtown HB. He loves going to visit all the dogs (after mommy makes sure they are nice dogs). He ditches the swing and slides for the dogs once he sees them and chases them everywhere yelling "doggie" and laughing.

His other loves are cars and airplanes or "airpane" as he says. Every time one flies over our house he runs outside to watch it in amazement. He has many toy cars and trucks that he drives around the house and makes a grrrrrrrr sound (it is really cute).

Jared and Jerry are like two peas in a pod-they both love cars, planes and music. I like these things too just not to the same extent. So every Saturday they go to a car show together (which gives mommy some time to work out and run a few errands--a win/win for everyone)! Every night, Jerry plays the guitar for Jared and he just loves it! Jared plays on Jerry's gutiar which he gets a kick out of. I am sure the older he gets, more male bonding activities (sports) will follow which means I need to get some more hobbies!

And last but not least, he loves people. He just loves all the great people in his life--mommy, daddy, all the grandparents and great grandparents, aunts and uncles and our long time friends. We are all so lucky to have such great family and friends in our lives! We love you all!

Our vacation--or staycation

2009-08-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

On Aug. 17, we were supposed to take our first family vacation to Maui with my mom and sister. We were all packed and ready to go when Jared suddenly starting acting very sick. So on Sunday night we took him to Urgent care with a full body rash, a cough and a very fussy baby to see what they could do for him before our vacation.

The Dr. there didn't seem to know what the rash was from--she called it a "viral rash" and was surprised he never had a fever. They tested his oxygenation levels and they were at 95--they want them at 99-100. So they made us give him a breathing treatment for 10 minutes (such a horrible experience). We had to tie Jared down while he was screaming and hold a mask over his face! They checked him for strep (which he didn't have) and checked his ears-- he had a mild ear infection too, so they put him on amoxicillan for 10 days and prescribed an inhaler for his breathing.

Needless to say, we cancelled our Maui vacation. What timing Jared has! I guess it is just part of having kids--you can never plan anything! Jerry and I will have to use the airline credit by May 2010 since they don't give refunds.

Two days later, Jared was back to his happy self so we decided to go on a "staycation" and headed down to San Diego.

We stopped at the outlet mall in Carlsbad and he drove a car (his favorite thing)! Jared also got some cute Baby Gap gear for cheap.

Then we got to the hotel and rested for while--Jared just loves laying on the BIG bed.

We met Jerry's mom and dad (Grandma and Grandpa) at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Marcos which is always fun. The next morning we took Jared to the Wild Animal Park which is such an amazing place! He loved playing in the water area there and looking at all the big animals. We took a tram ride so we could see more animals than we could by foot and Jared did very well. He kept saying "hi" to the lady behind us which was cute (but it probably got old for her really fast).

After the Wild Animal Park, we drove back home and Jared was sooooo sleepy.

Disneyland Birthday Fun!

2009-08-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, August 4, my mother-in-law Carla celebrated a birthday. What better way to celebrate then a day at Disneyland with the family (plus she got in free thanks to Disney's promotion this year)! We had such a great time together and Jared was such a trooper even though it was soooo hot! The best (most expensive) purchase of the day was the $17 squirt bottle fan (FYI Walmart sells them for $6 so bring your own!) but it was worth it at the time.

Jared sitting like a big boy on the Whinnie the Poo ride.

Waiting in line at the Haunted Mansion.

After Disneyland we had Italian food at Hous of Pizza (yum)! What a great way to end the night! Happy Birthday Carla!

Silly faces and summer fun!

2009-08-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

Jared starting doing what we like to call a "super silly face." My mom and I discovered it one night while giving him a bath. He squeezes this penguin that squirts water and while he does it, he make this hysterical face! Now he will do it on cue...if someone says, "Jared, show me your super silly face," he does it! We laugh so hard every time so he must love the attention he gets from doing it. Next time you see him, ask him to do it for you--you will get a good laugh!

Jared just loves cars (just like his daddy)! So one morning I decided to put him in the driver's seat of my car for a few minutes while we waited for Jerry (and so he could drive like mommy does). Just look at his face! He's like, "what up mom...I am so cool!"

We took Jared to the Orange County Fair a few weeks ago and of course had to take him into the petting zoo. He loves animals (and calls everything that has fur a doggie which is so cute) and he had a blast feeding the goats, pigs and sheep. Jared and I then shared a giant turkey leg (a first for both of us) and then we walked around and all got over-stimulated looking at all the lights, games, rides stuffed animals and fried everything. We also tried the new Mexican Churro which is just like a regular one but they put cinnamon and sugar on it--yummy but sooo rich and heavy.

16 Months and good times

2009-07-14T11:26:00.000-07:00

At the Aquarium of the Pacific

Jerry and I took Jared to the Aquarium of the Pacific for the first time recently. Jerry won some tickets at work so we decided to go since Jared loves animals and the fish at his school, but I think he was just too young for the whole experience. He was more interested in running around the place into the crowds of people and have us chase him. He did like putting his hands in the water to try and touch the sting rays, but 16-month-olds don't have very large attention spans so that was very short lived. We stayed for about an hour or so and then waived bye to the Aquarium...next aquarium will be Sea World where they have more to do for kids his age!

School Update:

Jared has been going to his new school now for three weeks and yesterday when I dropped him off, we had no tears for the first time! He was happy to go there and even waived bye to me with a smile. This is quite a relief knowing he is adjusting well and is starting to like it there. He also slept for almost two hours which means he is feeling comfortable--YEAH!!

Jared's first day of school

2009-06-25T16:19:00.001-07:00

On Monday, June 22, Jared started daycare three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) at the Orange Coast College Harry and Grace learning center. I have been very nervous about this transition because Jared has never been in a group daycare environment before. I have always had a nanny at our house and once a week I would take him to a lady's house for 6 hours, so I didn't know how he would react to the new schedule.

Day 1:

When we first got there, he was happy to see all the new cool toys and the fish tank. He wanted me to let go of him so he could go explore so I did. They serve breakfast to all the kids there, so they sat him down with Cheerios with milk and bananas and he was happy. I told him I love him and that I would see him later after work. When I left he was fine.

I called to check on him at my lunch time and they said he cried when he realized I wasn't there anymore. Also, the napping arrangements didn't work for him (they sleep on mattresses that are on the floor behind a half wall) so he went outside and slept for 25 minutes on a pillow. I guess he wasn't comfortable in the room.

He did eat a good lunch and snack and had fun playing with all the new toys (they have lots of cars which he loves). Overall, they said he did very well for his first day. He was so happy when Jerry and I came to pick him up (and I was just as happy and anxious to see him)!

Day 2:

I dropped him off and he was happy when we first got there. I signed him in and then it was time to say our goodbuys--this is when the tears came and broke my heart. :( I wan't to cry too but I told him I love him and his daddy will pick him up later.

I called at lunch again and they said he was doing great. He slept for one hour in the room--they gave him a bear this time which is what he sleeps with at home) and he didn't cry for long after I dropped him off. They did say he cries ever time the door opens (when he sees that it isn't me, he starts to cry which breaks my heart again).

They say it takes a couple weeks and he should be more used to the new schedule, so I am hoping they are right! I don't know if I can take seeing him cry every time I drop him off because I feel like such a bad mom. I think Jerry and I should rotate dropping him off so I am not always the one leaving him there.

Stay tunned and wish us a better week next week!

15 Months and a new school

2009-06-06T11:02:00.001-07:00

Jared had his 15-month check up on Monday. He is doing so great and getting so big! He is still in the 85th percentile in height (32 1/2 inches) and is now in the 65th percentile in weight (25lbs. 4oz). He has started to slim down now that he is running around and so active. The way Jared eats, he must have a metabolism like Jerry--he can eat whatever he wants and as much as he wants and still stays thin (must be nice).

Where Jerry works, they have an awesome child care center (the OCC Harry and Grace Steele Child Care Center) that we knew we wanted him to go to at some point, so we put his name on the waiting list when he was 10 weeks old knowing it could take a while for him to get in. I received a call this week that they have an opening for three days a week-- Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, so we decided to accept the spot and he will start attending on June 22 when he is almost 16 months old. I can take him in the morning any time between 7:30 and 10 am and Jerry will pick him up at 5 after he is off work.

We feel this is going to be great for him--he loves to learn and is very smart and with my work, I feel I can't give him enough of what he needs as long as I have this job responsibility. I will still have him all day on Tuesdays and our nanny will come on Thursdays to help me out. I can still work from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays--I will just have a little more help now which I need with such an active little boy, a full time job, a house and a husband to take care of!

The center is so great--they have animals that the kids can pet and take care of, a garden where they can plant fruits and veggies, the school's catering department prepares breakfast, lunch and a snack for all the kids with the menu selected by the school's nutritionist to ensure proper nutrition for the different ages and so much more. Jared and I are going on a tour on Tuesday so he can meet the teacher. They are going to show us around the facility so Jared can get familiar with it and also show me a sample of what he will be doing all day. Stay tunned!

Jared's First (of many) Baseball Game

2009-05-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

Jerry and a couple friends have season tickets this year to the Angels. One of his friends couldn't go, so we all got to go as a family last night which was really fun! Jared was so excited and loved all the lights and sitting in his own big boy chair.

He ate Subway and even had some potato chips. It was so cute to see him clap when they were doing the Angel's line--when everyone would clap he would look around and start doing the same--then he started dancing with the music!

There were a couple little boys around us and he gave one little boy a high five (so cute)! Jared really wanted to drink what Jerry had (a beer) so once he finished it, Jerry gave him his cup (don't worry it was empty) which Jared thought was so cool!

Jared and I left after the fourth inning when he started to get tired. Overall, he did really well and we had a blast! I am sure he will be going to many more baseball games.

Happy Mother's Day!!

2009-05-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

I want to wish all the mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all enjoy your day.

For some of the mom's in my life, it is their first Mother's Day and I want to wish you all a very Happy First Mother's day!

Jared's First Disneyland Adventure!

2009-05-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

On May 2, our whole family went to Disneyland to celebrate my mom's birthday. My sister Allison, her boyfriend Kyle, Jerry, myself and Jared all went to the happiest place on earth! And boy was it ever! It was Jared's first time there and he just loved it--and we all loved seeing how happy he was there too.

He was such a trooper the whole day and went on lots of rides--his favorite was Small World for sure. He danced around the whole time, and studied everything.

He also went on Pirates, Haunted Mansion, the new Pooh ride and the merry-go-round. With only a 30-minute cat nap the entire day, you would never know by how happy he was. We thought he would fall asleep so fast that night, but it took him over 30 minutes to actually fall asleep! I guess he couldn't stop thinking about all the excitement and new things he saw! I do know that Jerry and I were exhausted after spending over 7 hours there with a toddler, but it was worth it for sure. I will be getting a pass soon so we can go often with all our friends who has passes but for shorter time frames. :)

Daddy and Me Swimming

2009-04-15T10:19:00.000-07:00

Last night was swimming again and Jared just loves swimming with his daddy! He does so much better in the water with Jerry--he probably feels safer plus dads are just more fun!

Jared just loves his humpty dumpties (sat on the wall and had a great fall into the water that is)--he was so excited and kept say "dat" and pointing to the wall so Jerry would put him back on it so he could jump in the water!

Swimming Lessons

2009-04-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

Jared and I started taking swimming lessons last week with a group of our friends through the city of HB on Tuesday and Thursday nights. At first, he wasn't too sure about it (he had a death grip around my neck the first lesson), but after his second lesson, he started warming up to the water. I even dunked him under once and he didn't cry! I think we will have a little swimmer this summer.

Play Date with the kidos

2009-03-21T10:47:00.001-07:00

Jared and I had a lunch play date last week at Jami's house (a friend who we met through Lindsay) and we all had a great time (although Jared was kind of fussy that day). Michelle and Giovanni were down visiting for the week from Port Hueneme and were able to join us too which was great. Jared, Giovanni and Kora are all two weeks apart from each other so it was fun to see them playing together (or apart). We are so lucky to have so may friends with kids around Jared's age. I think we are making this a weekly adventure so all the kids can play and moms can talk to each other often about mom stuff!

Jared's 1st Birthday Party

2009-03-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, Jared turned 1 (well kind of) since he is born on leap day, and we had a big party with all our family and friends there to help us celebrate. Jared ate some cake and ice cream and loved it as you can see below, and got so many gifts! Our house now officially

looks like Toys-R-US!

Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate this huge milestone! Jared had a great day but was ready for bed after all the excitement was over. He actually said Mama a few times and Lindsay witnessed it! That is what I wanted for his birthday. Here are some more photos from his big day--enjoy and we love you all so much!

Jared is turning 1!

2009-02-23T10:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my baby is turing one on Saturday, February 28 (well kind of since he is a Leap Day baby)! I know everyone tells you time goes by so fast but it really does! He is no longer a baby and is now a toddler.

In just one year Jared has learned so much. He learned how to roll over, sit up all by himself, crawl, pull himself up on furniture and walk around it, and finally walk (at 10.5 months). Now he explores everything and is a very active little boy!

I love my little boy more than anything in the world and I can't wait to see him eat his cake on Saturday! Happy Birthday Baby!