Halloween Festivities

For Halloween we decided to travel to Bakersfield to visit my parents and also take the kids to do some trick-or-treating with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Olivia and cousin Nathan.
We started the evening over at my Grandpa's swinging pad. He was very happy to have visitors as were the other inhabitants of his apartment building. There was face painting, games, candy and some cool decorations. After that, we hit the streets to force the kids to get some candy for their parents. ;) Quinlan was too tired, so his big brother drove him back to Paso to get some much needed rest. My nephew, Nathan, is two years old. Needless to say, he was shocked when we took him up to the first door and the woman gave him CANDY! He wanted to go into her house. It was so adorable. He even gave her a hug.
The kids were very creative with their costumes. I took them costume shopping a bit too late, and there was not much of a selection. Cassie and Miranda could find nothing but a couple of wigs, so Cassie became Cinderella (the one that was in cleaning mode), and Miranda was Mulan. What clever girls we have! Quinlan was a dinosaur and Lily was a bunny.

The Birth Announcement

The birth announcement was a bigger undertaking than I thought it would be. Those of you who have babies will understand that it is not always easy to find a perfect photo of a newborn to share with the world. I wanted it to be perfect, but with facial scratches and baby acne this quest was not an easy one.
Our dear friend Elisa recently started her own business, Yesterdays Memories, and she offered to give me a hand with the actual announcement. What this meant was that I would give her my photos of Lily and she would then create a work of art.
Here are the announcements that I had to choose from. It was not easy as they were all beautiful.
Thank you Elisa. You did a wonderful job!

So Much Hair

As most of you know, Quinlan was born bald and he stayed that way for about one year. You can imagine our surprise when Lily was born with a head full of dark hair. I never dreamed that I would need a hairbrush for our baby!

It's a Girl!

Lily Kathleen Jordan was born on October 9, 2007 at 11:59am. All of the grandparents and siblings were there to witness her arrival (Uncle Conner was gracious enough to miss a day of school too), and we couldn't be happier. The kids are all thrilled to add a new baby to the mix. It seems like we just did this, didn't we?
I know there will be plenty of challenges with two babies in the house who are on different schedules, but I do love a good challenge. ;)
I would like to thank all of you who came to visit us at the hospital. It was not easy getting past the guards/nurses thanks to a new security and alarm system. Lily was visited by her Uncle Corey, Uncle Conner, Uncle Jeff and Aunt Olivia (cousin Nathan had to wait in the lobby, darn), Uncle Richard and Aunt Elisa, Aunt Lori and our good friend Abi. We felt so loved. :) Thank you all.

The Countdown

This week has been a bit trying. Last Wednesday my husband surprised me by taking me for a manicure/pedicure at a local nail spa, and I guess that all that relaxing was more than I could bear. I went into labor, 6-7 weeks early.
Josh and I rushed over to the hospital to pre-register. Better late than never, I guess. We almost made it to admitting when another contraction hit. At that time and angel of mercy found us standing in the hall trying to keep calm. She wheeled us over to the maternity unit where they hooked me up to a few monitors and called our doctor. The labor nurse informed us that it was too early to deliver the baby as the lungs were not yet fully developed. After an hour or so of monitoring the contractions and the baby's activity, the contractions subsided. We have been put back on bed rest/limited activity (again) and told to stay calm for the next 1-2 weeks.
Josh called my parents, who live two hours away, while we were in the hospital to tell them what was going on, and of course they packed their bags right away. The next day they drove out to help in any way possible. What a blessing! Josh's parents, who live in Paso came to pick up our little guy, who is now 17 month old, for a sleepover as I was told not to pick him up or chase him around until we were out of the woods. Josh and I know that we are very fortunate to have two sets of wonderfully supportive parents.
As of today, we are still pregnant and hoping to stay that way for at least a few more days.
Our original due date was 09/26, but the doctor has officially changed it to 10/03 after viewing our ultrasound. I think he is wrong, but time will tell. :)

First Day of School

Our son, Addison, started college this week. He is attending a junior college in San Luis Obispo. What a rough life, huh?
He was full of apprehension and anxiety for the past few weeks as he dreaded starting college. This was mostly due to the horror stories that he had heard from teachers at the high school he was attending. Needless to say, he had a great time and can hardly wait to jump back in to the college scene tomorrow.

Graduations Galore!

June was a very exciting month! We had two graduations, and we moved out to the country. What a change.
Our son, Addison, graduated from high school and is now working for the family business as a draftsman. He is catching on very quickly and Josh and I are thrilled to have him working with us. He will be staring college in the fall and is planning on majoring in biology.
Our daughter, Cassie, graduated from middle school. She will now be the little fish in the pond as she enters high school. She can hardly wait! There is only one high school in our town, so all her friends will be there in the fall. Cassie decided she wanted to go to summer school this year so that she could take a welding class in the fall. She loves to design, and she is anxious to learn how to use welding skills to create sculptures.

Such a big boy!

Well, Quinlan finally started walking this week. It was so exciting! He was crying all day, so we really didn't expect to see any walking. He definitely caught us off guard. Addison was trying to cheer him up and was playing with him in the living room, and next thing you know he took "six" steps across the room! I think the little man was holding out.

The Big Surprise

This past week has been full of surprises. Yesterday was our daughter Cassie's birthday, and her best present was to be able to let the cat out of the bag.
We arrived over at Grandpa and Grandma Jordan's home in the afternoon under the guise of watching the Superbowl game. Cassie carried Quinlan (our 10 1/2 month old baby) up to Grandma's door, and once inside she asked Grandma to help her remove Quinlan's jacket. As she did so, she noticed that he had an interesting t-shirt on. The front of his pocket said "Guess what?" and when Cassie turned Quinn around everyone saw that the back of his shirt said, "I am going to be a big brother." It was so great! Grandma started crying (tears of joy of course), and Grandpa Jordan was ecstatic. Josh's younger brothers, Corey and Conner, were caught up in the excitement too. It was all we could do to not tell our parents sooner, but we were waiting for just the right moment. Of course we were insured a captive audience by waiting until Superbowl Sunday.
Unfortunately my parents weren't able to make it out to Paso for the weekend festivities, so right before the football game started I e-mailed photos of Quinny in his "Big Brother" shirt to them. My parents were shocked to say the least. Once the initial shock wears off, I am sure that they will be right by my side helping me prepare our home for this new little bundle of joy.
We will be going to the doctor on March 1st for our first official "baby" appointment. At that point we will probably get a ballpark on our due date. We will keep you posted.

Time Flies...

So it would appear that my good intentions to keep a public journal fell by the wayside, and for some strange reason I feel compelled to try again. Perhaps this time I will make better use of this blog thing.

Happpy New Year!

We rang in the new year in Yosemite where Josh surprised us with a family ski trip. My husband is always full of surprises, and this new year's celebration was no exception. We loaded up the whole family, including my Dad and Mom, and headed for the snow. It was a long drive, but it went by quickly. Thankfully we were all able to fit in one car. I think that it was much nicer than caravaning, but my parents may disagree. ;) Quinlan did very well on the car ride.
My parents even put on skis and tried their darnedest to stay upright. It was not easy. After a bit of practice and not much luck, they decided to visit with Quinlan instead. He love spending time with Pop and Grandma, so it worked out great for him.
The kids were naturals on the slopes, and they love to ski! We only had one accident, and it was on the last run of the day. Cassie fell pretty hard and twisted her leg. It was very surreal. The ski patrol came and took her away on their snow mobile where they splinted her leg and sent us on our way. We headed home right away and took her to the urgent care when we got home. She is recovering nicely and will be missing P.E. at school for a while. She is heart broken. Not.