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.

Addison's 17th Birthday

Addison decided that for his birthday this year he would have some friends come over and spend the night. Most of the kids were fellow employees from the movie theater that he works at. As you can see from the photos, they had a great/wild time. Twister, flashlight tag, pizza and movies were just a few things that kept them entertained. The trick was keeping the baby asleep (Quinn is now almost 4 months old) while the kids ran around the house playing tag all night.
Grandpa and Grandma Jordan came over with two of Josh's younger brothers, Corey and Conner, to celebrate with us as well.
I think Addison's favorite gift was a can of pepper spray. ;)

The Master of Disguise

He looks so familiar, and yet I just can't place him. :)

Miranda had a pirate party at school, and the kids were given some fake facial hair. As you can see, the kids found some creative applications for the hair.

A Day at the Beach

My parents and I took Quinlan for his first trip to the beach. It was a beautiful day, and we were anxious to take the new stroller out for a spin. I have always loved spending time near the ocean, and my parents are always up for an adventure. Lucky for us, the baby slept most of the time which gave us the opportunity to indulge in some fish and chips (and of course no trip to Pismo is complete without a cinnamon roll from Old West Cinnamon Rolls).