a little compairson

So I was looking through my old photos and I found a few from when I was pregnant with Jaiden. Everyone keeps commenting on how big I am so I just wanted to see if I really am bigger so see for yourself...

20 weeks with ???

26 weeks with Jaiden

27 weeks with ???

30 weeks with ????

33 weeks with Jaiden

Our Natural Born Boater

Here is a little video.
Enjoy...

Our Baby Moon

This year, we decided that for our annual vacation, we would go to Fl to see the Grans before the new baby comes. We always have a great time and this year/trip has been no exception. We drove half the way Thursday night and the other half Friday so it was a surprisingly easy trip. Jaiden, as always, was great. Saturday was an easy day with a bit of pool time for the boy. He got to try out Gran-gran and Grandpa guys new kayaks and he is a natural born boater. He got to paddle while Nanay pushed him around. Saturday night, Nanay and I got to have a real date so we went to see Cirque De Solea. No pictures but I did get a really BIG candy apple.

Today was another great day. We rented a pontoon boat at Hontoon Island and spent about 4 hours on the water. This was Jaiden's first trip in a real boat and he love every minuet . We took sandwiches and after a while of tooling around, we stopped to swim for a bit. After that, we did a little more boating and even saw some wildlife. After about 15-20 min, Jaiden loosened up and really started to enjoy himself. Toward the end of the trip, he even got to help Grandpa Guy drive.

In true FL fashion, we did run into a little rain storm but again, in true FL fashion, there were beautiful blue skies above. The shower was short lived so we did a little more exploring. We got to see some neat wildlife but for me, the coolest part was seeing cows next to the water. (I'm guessing mom and baby but???)

It was an amazing day and I only ended up a little burnt. I guess I didn't put the lotion on evenly. :{ but it's not too bad. (I guess I really have learned a few things in the past 30+ years.) The trip still holds a few more adventures so we will keep you posted.

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and ???

A little rain shower with beautiful blue skies above...

More beautiful Fl landscapes.

Nanay and her shadow.

The Cows...

The rest of the story....

So I am finally getting around to publishing (in the words of my favorite radio personality) "the rest of the story" from the fourth of July. Mostly because 1. I found my camera again and 2. I need to room on the chip because at the moment, we are currently on another adventure. I'm calling it our baby moon because it's probably the last trip we will take as a family of 3 (before the new baby.) Anyways... Here are a few pictures from the second day our our trip to Alabama: the actual 4th of July. It was VERY HOT. I really wanted to go to the beach but it was way to hot so we went to the battle ship to see the fireworks. We went early so we could have a picnic on the grass. It being the USS Alabama, the had a bunch of "other" things things there too. They had a really big airplane, a rocket of some sort, a helicopter and a few other smaller planes. Out of all of that going on, Jaiden wanted to go see the firetruck parked all the way on the other side of the lawn. (It wasn't an old firetruck or a navy firetruck, just Company??? from up the street making sire nobody got to stupid...) He was just so excited, how could we help but get excited too...
It was a great evening with and awesome sunset and wonderful live music. It was still hot but we had a great time.
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and ???

Jaiden and Nanay hiding from the sun eating cookies...

Jaiden and Lolo checking out the really big plane...

The Fire Truck..

The USS Alabama

Happy 4th from Mobile

This 4th, we decided it would be as good a time as any to make a trip to Mobile, AL to see Anna's dad and Kathy. We got down here yesterday (after a WONDERFUL stranger helped with a screw in our tire). This morning, we went downtown to eat brunch at one of dad's favorite restaurants called "Spot of Tea". Downtown Mobile always seems to have something going on and this morning was no exception. They were having they usual Saturday morning Farmers Market. After breakfast and walking around a bit, we picked up a few veggies and I got some home-made cheddar and jalepeno bread. (I'll let you know how it is later.) After driving around Mobile looking at the sites, we stopped at a little park on the bay. It was quite hot so we promptly came home to play in the water. (Nanay took her usual Saturday afternoon nap...) Here are a few pictures from the events this morning with more to follow soon.

Happy 4th!!!

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and ???

Friday night, driving with Lolo...

A Spot of Tea

Jaiden's World

For Jaiden's 3rd birthday, he got a digital camera from Aunt Emily and Uncle Evan. He was very excited about it and after about a week, we checked to see what we could see and alas, nothing but black pictures and a few feet. Recently, we tried again since he was showing a lot of intrest in my camera phone. (one evening at dinner, he took 30+ pictures with my phone...) The camera is great for him because it does still and video pictures even thought there is no sound, so here is what we found... Life according to Jaiden...

Now I know why they call it the Emergency Room

This weekend, we had some great plans but as plans go, they often have a mind of their own. We were planning on heading to Ashville, NC for the weekend right after my class on Saturday and spending some time with Anna's friend from high school. My silly body had something else in mind. Let me start off by saying Jaiden is great! So Saturday morning about 5:30, I woke up with a lot of pain in my lower right back. No big deal, I just thought I slept wrong so now I'm awake so I have to pee... After that, something just didn't feel right so i thought I'd go downstairs to put the heating pad on my back but before I got to the stairs, I got very sick to my stomach so I went into the other bathroom to sit (and pee again). Anna came in to check on me and then helped me downstairs. I just couldn't get comfortable and the pain just kept getting worse. I started to get worried because things weren't getting any better. After throwing up, I decided to call my sister. She said if I was in that much pain, go tot the er. (I didn't want to.) After writhing some more, I decided to call my ob and they concurred so off we went. Anna grabbed Jaiden then helped me to the car. We got to Northside and they were wonderful. Needless to say, after 2 shots of Morphine, I could still feel the pain but I just didn't care. Then, after I had an ultrasound, I finally started to feel human again. I told Anna it was like someone turned on the light and I was me again. In the middle of all of that, Aunt Rosie came to get Jaiden who was as always, wonderful. They ultrasound came back normal and the dr said since I was feeling so much better, they would let me go home. They think it might have been a kidney stone or some other irritation but the bottom line for me is, whatever it was, it's gone now. I don't think it will come back but to be sure, I'm drinking a LOT of water. I can honestly say I have never been in that much pain before and i hope to never experience it again.
Jaiden got to spend the day with Aunt Rosie, his cousin Charlotte, Jen and Jonathon. They had great fun swimming, shopping and going to Monkey Joe's.. He even went down the slide all by himself; alot!. We went to Rose's house or dinner, after a wonderful nap, and just had a relaxing evening. I'm not sure if Rose will ever understand how much I appreciate her taking such great care of out little one. Thank you so much Rosie!!! She did take some pictures and when she sends them to me, I'll post them here.
Anyways, our other little one was also quite the trooper. Through everything I was going through, her heartbeat was strong and steady. We have any appt with the midwives on tues just to make sure.
Today was much less exciting. We stayed at home and just rested. We got to have dinner with Pops and Nana and earlier we did watch Wall-E. While we were watching, Anna took a few pictures. No post would be complete without a few pictures of the little one so here they are.
love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and ???

One of our family photos...