Adry's First Birthday

Day 29 (Tuesday, March 31)
And finally, I bring to you ADRYEL’S FIRST EVER BIRTHDAY!!

At midnight of the 19th, Ben and I woke him up to sing ‘Happy Birthday’. He wasn’t too happy, so I decided to make a tradition out of it ☺. I was born at 4 something in the morning, and I remember my mom waking me up as a kid to tell me Happy Birthday at 4am, and it was so exciting!

On the 21st we had his Sesame Street party at my parents’ house at which he got a million toys! And also some pretty cute clothes. My entire apartment is officially a baby play-place. I forget what it was like to have all this space to myself without tripping over dump trucks and bouncy balls.


First, I must extend some e-thanks to Pam and Les who spent HOURS helping my mom and I prepare for the party. They cooked nearly 100 mini hamburgers and also prepared a bunch of other stuff. Best ladies ever.

Pammy and Adry, who would not cooperate for any pictures.


Les and Adry

And also, thanks to Sandie for driving from West Virginia JUST for Adry’s party. Seriously- wow. Add her to the best ladies ever.


Hutch (Supa Dupa Hutch!) was amazing as usual, consistently a huge support! <3 <3 We love Hutch!



Here’s Ash and Duke attempting to get a good picture with Adry ☺. They always make me laugh!


Aaw, I thought this was cute! Alexz n’ Adry


Here’s some of the yummies we had! I thought the mini burger bar was such a great idea. I think my mom got the idea from Ginny Dillon (Ash’s mom).


Hutch and Alexz loadin’ up!


Alexz and Matt got Adryel this truck. He loves it. I put him in the back and push him around and he won’t stop giggling!


Stephan and Jamie got Adryel this guitar. I was so excited! I wanted a real guitar with strings rather than one of those plastic toys with buttons, because Adryel loves to strum.


There’s Ginny!


from grandma and grandpa Sanders. The big car was from the Jordans (Les, Mer, Tay)


Ben’s mom made the cake. She did such an awesome job! I’m sure it took freaking hours. It was delicious, too. None of those cupcakes were eaten at the partry, but I’m pretty sure that between Matt and I we devoured them within 2 days. Yay for losing weight!


This was Adry’s personal cake.


Ok, my box made it in this picture (bottom right)! I decided to start this tradition: I put topics and starters at the top of the box, like ‘I like you because…’, ‘my favorite memory of you is…’ etc, and party guests wrote a note to Adryel for him to read when he is older, and then slipped it in a slit at the top of the box. I’ve decided to do this every year: seal the boxes, collect them in a big tub, and give them all to Adry when he graduates from High School. Of course during his teen birthdays when “the box” is SO not cool, I’ll only have close friends and family do it privately.


mmm, cake!


The whole party!




I’d just like to point out that that is my little bro J in the background. Look how much freaking weight he’s lost! He looks amazing, but he won’t let me take a decent pic of him.

I had a really great time with the whole party. First birthdays are so exciting!

Christmas/New Year's Eve Picture Post

This picture is of me and some of my mom's friends at her Christmas cookie exchange.  My mom's friends in this pic are: Irene, Les, Sandie, Pam

Christmas
Christmas was great.  I had a wonderful day with my family, and with Ben's family.

This was my parents' family room on Christmas morning.


Wahlah- Ben and I got a changing table from my parents for Christmas!  Ben's parents got us the matching crib.  I like the set a lot- I think it is very nice.


The traditional stairs picture- Matt, Ben, Reese Pete, Jacob, me.  I look terrible... oh well.  Every year on Christmas morning there must be a picture taken on the stairs as we wait to be welcomed into the family room with all of the presents.




Jacob got a sweet new guitar for Christmas.  I'm a huge fan- I think it's a pretty one.  I got him a fantastic strap to go with it, I might add.

Well, those are all of the Christmas pictures I have.  Later that afternoon Jamie and Stephan came over and we had a yummy lunch and ended the evening playing Pictionary, which was super fun.  OH MAN- Jamie has some funny pics of that on her camera that I wish I could share, but alas I don't have them :-(.

New Year's Eve:
Happy 25 Anniversary Mom and Dad!
Happy 3 Anniversary Jess and Ben!
Let me start off by explaining that on New Year's Eve I had the flu.  It was terrible and I felt like Death.  No- I literally felt like whatever I touched would die and decay before my eyes.  I had been puking all day and it took ALL of my willpower to get out of bed.  Sooo, PLEASE excuse the fact that I look absolutely terrible in these pictures!

Anyway, we started the night off by going to see the movie The Great Debaters, which I thought was really good, actually.  It surprised me.  I cried.  Pregnancy hormones are solely to blame for that.  Afterwards we went to the Japanese Steak House and we brought in the New Year there.


Excuse me, sir, our food is on fire.


Mom and Les= cute best friends


Dad and Ben got to play the drums...


...Jacob played the tamborein and Tay was a "monkey boy" (as the little Japanese man called him) along with Matt...


...and this little guy sang.  That was an interesting experience, lol.




Mrs. Sicko and Ben on their anniversary!


Ben, Jessi, Matt








Yep. They been married fer twennyfav years.








Do you see the little Japanese man in the middle of this picture?  At midnight he started dancing all around the restaurant like a monkey.  I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a very large monkey kiss on the cheek.

Well, those are all of the pictures I have for now!
Enjoy!
:-)

LoveJess

Baby and Thanksgiving

1) Baby Update
Warning: This is kinda personal, and maybe graphic, depending on what your "gross-out" threshold is.

On Sunday I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and a few close friends.  Let me just say, first, that it was a FANTASTIC day!  But, I bled again (fourth time), and was having a lot of watery discharge, which was the scariest thing (mucus plug could have popped= BAD).  Luckily, my best friend's mother was there and she has been a Labor and Delivery nurse for over 20 years.  I'm real thankful for that, even though there was no room for modesty!  She checked things out, explained a lot of stuff to me, and really helped a LOT.  Anyways, I went to go see Dr. King on Monday to try to get to the bottom of all this bleeding, and I endured a lot of EXTREMELY painful cervix examinations.  OOOOH MY GOSH- OUCH OUCH OUCH! (Three different examinations.  Yeah- NOT fun.)  It turns out she is pretty sure that the bleeding is not coming from my placenta at all, that it is actually coming from my cervix, which she called "friable", which kind of means "brittle"...  it's raw and bleeds easily :-(.  This is actually good news because it means the bleeding is something I don't really have to worry about anymore.  No more emergency hopital/doctor visits! yay!  Bad news= No more sex during pregnancy- BOO, haha.  Of course, I'd rather deal with that than a risky pregnancy!

This is a completely candid picture of Ben, me, and Jamie that my mother took when we were at my baby checkup.  I love it because this is pretty much how James interacts with my baby at all times.  If it were any other person it would bug the crap outta me, but she is *SO* cute- she is constantly rubbing and baby talking and feeling for kicks, and when it's her it makes me feel good because I know she's doing it 'cause she loves me :-).  She is excited to be Aunt Jamie.


2) Thanksgiving

WOW, what a GREAT day!  Hummis(sp?) and pretzels, Turkey, cranberry salad, green bean casserole, corn casserole, broccli and cheese, marshmallow sweet potatos, mashed potatos and gravy, stuffing, church potatos, devilled eggs, rolls and butter, *deep breath*, pumpkin pie, whipped cheesecake, chocolate swirl cheesecake, cherry pie, raspberry chocolate pie, and ...I really feel like I am forgetting something.
(I just really randomly felt the need to express the fact that I am the world's most horrible speller.  This is not news, it's a known fact.  Of course I don't take advantage of the spell check feature, go figure, but I probably spelled all of those foods wrong.)


Anyways- We couldn't stop laughing the whole day.  My stomache hurt from laughing before I even started eating.  My mother had us write 5 things we were thankful for on 5 strips of paper and toss them in the basket.  We each chose 5 at random from the basket to read at the table, and then we all guessed who wrote each one.  It turned out to be quite humorous and fun!  The strips were taped, stapled, and turned into a garland by Matt and Jessi.

After the meal I had another bleeding episode.  I already went into that.  Afterwards we relaxed and talked a little before eating dessert...  That's when Jamie said something that really stuck in my mind and made me think.  She just looked around, so content, and said, "I LOVE this.  I love that everyone is here and together.  I just miss my sister."  It made me realize how I often take it for granted when my family is all together, healthy,  having a good time, and loving eachother.  I'm spoiled- I get it a lot.  I also realized how much I have my mother to thank for that.  Really and truely, if it weren't for her, Thanksgiving wouldn't have been nearly what it was.  She brought 2 families together as one and hosted a really wonderful day.  And she does that ALL the time-- she can turn ANY event into a holiday or an excuse to bring people together like family.  She's always planning, decorating, cooking, inviting, and making things enjoyable.  I really, really appreciate her and I don't tell her enough.  (Other than, I DO call her "The Food Woman", but I'm not sure that gets the point across.)

Well anyways, after we ate dessert Jessie (Jamie's sister) DID get to join us finally, and we played games- "Apples to Apples" and "Catchphrase".

...I could write more but I am hungry!
Charlie Brown Christmas story is on tonight at 8.
:-)
I freakin love that!

ForeverLove

for hurricanes have, the bluest eyes I've ever seen.

"I am pining for your mercy,
for this storm to break,
Lord you are my comfort,
the hope for which I wait."

LiveJournal,
Life is mostly back to "normal" since the "hurricane". 
I'm not even gunna lie- It feels SO GOOD!
Everything is much more relaxed, and altogether more happy.  My family is getting along GREAT.  ...No more sitting around and worrying.  ...Much less tension in the air.  I am much less naive, haha!-- Ignorance is bliss, but also reckless.  I made a reckless, naive decision, and I learned a ginormous lesson.  And NO, the lesson I learned was NOT that no one can be trusted.  There are many beautiful and trustworthy people out there.  The lesson I learned was to KNOW a person before I trust them (and confide in them).
Anyways, there are still some loose ends I'd really like to tie up.  I don't know when or how, but it'll happen.  SO much has happened so far.  I thought I'd have to wait and be patient FOREVER, but I MADE the decision to give it to the Lord and wait patiently, and he worked faster than I expected.  I consider it a miracle, really.  I mean, I felt like I was flat on the ground with my face in the mud and that it would be impossible to stand and see the sunlight again.  I felt absolutely betrayed and stomped on and attacked and utterly heartbroken.  Then, within a matter of days I felt such a gracious peace and comfort, and a beautiful love.  Wow!- Only God!  ...My heart still drops a little when I think about the biggest victim, but I am beginning to have more confidence in his strength.

I've started dreaming and planning for a future that would best benefit my family (baby, Ben, and I).  I have this fantastic degree that is mostly useless without a few finishing touches (called a GENERALIST ENDORSEMENT).  Before baby came into my life my plan was to finish my endorsement and my MA, then find a full time teaching position.  BUT, now I'd like to find a job in my field (preferably tutoring this summer and substituting in the fall) just until I can knock out this stinkin' endorsement, and then apply for full time teaching positions before the end of next school year.  If all goes as planned, I'll have secured a good job by fall of 2009, and then I'll start working on my MA during the summers.  I feel REALLY good about those plans :-D.  It feels good to feel good!

FRIENDS
I've also been thinking about friends, and how I am absolutely, bottom line, the most BLESSED girl in the entire, whole world.  I only have a handful of close friends, and I've never felt the need to have more.  As a matter of fact, it is actually a struggle for me to come up with the time and energy (and interest) it takes to make new friends and be close to them.  I think that's because I am SO fulfilled with who I have- I'd rather dedicate all my time to them.   There is a time and a place for new friends- I'm definitely not closed off to the idea.  I'm just not out searching for it.

My friends are beautiful.  I am proud of them.  SO proud.  I want all of the best things in the world for them, and they want the same for me.  I can run to them any time of any day, for any reason, and they don't need to say a word- I know they love me, and I love them.  They are my refuge from drama, and the world's judgement.  They REALLY KNOW me- I don't hide any part of me, I trust them so much.  *THANK YOU, GOD.  Why have you found me worthy of such a blessing?  It is so hard to come by, and I have it for LIFE.  Whatever the reason, thank you.  I'll hold your gift so close to my heart and take care of it always.  This friendship is really something worth taking good care of :-)*

I'm out for today!
ForeverLove,
Jess

PS- The famous picture of the baby grabbing the doc's hand is of a 21-week old fetus, the same age as mine is now :-).