The Storch Family

Week 154

2012-02-15T20:59:00.002-05:00

Feb 8-14

In honor of Valentine's Day I took some pictures of our fun, love-themed creations. There are some pictures mixed in of Jack. I'm just going to let the pictures be the bulk of this post. On a random side note, Abel turned 5 months old this week. Enjoy! :)

Week 153

2012-02-13T19:35:00.001-05:00

Feb 1-7

My baby is growing up...

A few weeks ago I started thinking about the idea of preschool for Jack. Well I have actually thought about it before, but never really pursued it seriously. Recently we have realized that we need a break. Mutually. Jack needs a break from the house and from his little brother. We need a break from trying to constantly entertain him. I don't mean that the way it sounds. It's just that he literally craves attention CONSTANTLY. It is impossible to properly stimulate him and get anything done.

Here is a typical situation-a simple craft project. While I am getting out all of the supplies and setting up he destroys the whole living room, spills something, wakes up his brother...I do damage control and quickly attempt to pick some of the stuff up that he has gotten out. Abel has a dirty diaper. Change diaper. While I am changing the diaper I realize Jack is getting into all of the craft supplies I have just arranged, there is glue everywhere, and stuff on the floor.

Deep breath.

I manage to reassemble the supplies, get Abel situated in his high chair, and start the craft. We do about five minutes of the craft and Jack gets bored. Now there is paint on his hands and he keeps touching things. He gets antsy and keeps getting out of his seat. I imagine paint everywhere, since he can't seem to keep his hands to himself. I quickly wash his hands and send him to play with his toys while I quickly attempt to finish up the craft and put things away. Abel starts screaming because he is hungry. Fun times.

I go to feed Abel and Jack gets antsy, decides to go into our room and destroy things. I can hear him but I'm feeding Abel. This was part of his plan. He knows I am occupied at the moment and don't want to get up because it will disturb the baby.

Forget about anything else like cleaning up the house, doing the laundry, dishes, etc. Reallyforget things like updating the blog, checking e-mails, reading something, etc. I feel like I can't get anything done. As hard as I try. Jack would seriously benefit from school. It would be an outlet for him. He could play with friends, have a teacher, and learn some new things. I would have a whole 3 hours to play with Abel and clean up the house. I might even get to do some of the things I want to do. Uninterrupted. :)

So after realizing preschool would be amazing for Jack I had to figure out where to send him. I did some major research, both on the internet and asking local moms. I finally found one that seemed amazing and not too far from our house. No matter where Jack goes we are going to have to drive a bit because there aren't really any preschools on our side of town. There are tons of "day cares" but that is not what I am looking for.

We finally settled on "Kilbourne Park Baptist Church Preschool." I was very impressed with the tour I got. After the tour I found out that it is apparently pretty competitive to get your kid registered. There is a hierarchy. Active church members, grandkids of active church members, kids who have siblings already registered...then the general public. They said some years they might only have 1-2 slots left after all of that and it is "first come first served."

I thought about that carefully. The flier read that registration opened at 10:00 am on a Thursday morning. I asked the lady what time I should get there. I was thinking maybe 7:30-8:00ish. She was hesitant to give me an answer, I could tell. She said that they have had people there as early as midnight the night before, but most people come around 5:00 am. WTH? Seriously? I really didn't want to be the mom who couldn't get her kid registered for preschool so I sucked it up.

Of course Ed has class on Thursdays so I had to plan this out carefully. I wasn't really sure what to expect. Were people literally going to be sitting outside camped out, in line? Was it going to get nasty? What if you have to go to the bathroom? I chose to bring Abel with me so I could feed him. I'm all about pumping if I have to, but I wasn't about to pump outdoors in 30 degree weather with a bunch of people watching me. I knew I could keep him super warm if I had to.

I had my mom come over at 6:45 to sit with Jack when Ed went to school. I got up around 5:00 am and left my house at 5:30. I got to the church a little before 6:00 am. Parking was along a street and the car was in the first spot. I just pulled right behind it. I prayed that the person in front of me would just stay in their car. I REALLY didn't want to sit outside in 30 degree weather, in the dark. I was ready to though. I had my blankets, camping chair, insulated coffee carafe, and magazines. Bring it on!

Luckily they stayed in their car, I stayed in mine, and as more people pulled up behind me they stayed in their cars too. Abel slept for the first 2 hours. At around 8:15 the workers at the church opened the doors and let us sit in the auditorium around tables. They provided a sign in sheet and everyone was super nice about who was there first. We all laughed that we were nervous about what might happen. No one got nasty or picked a fight. Finally at 10:00 am they came in to get us registered. I paid the deposit and Jack is officially starting preschool in the fall.

It is kind of bittersweet. He will always be my baby, but he is seriously growing up right before my eyes. I look at pictures of when he was younger and it makes me sad. I feel like it was not long ago we were teaching him to crawl, walk, talk, etc. I'm also excited to see him mature and start new things. He is so excited about school he can hardly stand it. I told him that he had to be potty trained to go to school and he has definitely made strides in that area. He has gone number two on the potty a few times now. He rarely has a pee accident anymore. I figure we have about 6 months to work on it. When I asked him if he wanted to go to school he said yes. I told him he had to get a little bit older...he waited about 5 minutes and then exclaimed, "I'm older now, I go to school!" So cute!

Week 152

2012-02-05T19:16:00.008-05:00

Jan 25-31

So I guess after my last post that basically ranted about parents who do not spend time with their children I had better make this one positive. Somehow in the whole week I only have pictures of Abel. What did we do this week to make us so busy that we didn't get pictures of both kids? LOL. Oh well. I can give you a whole post about Abel anyways. The following information is about breast feeding...so if that creeps you out...I would not recommend reading the rest of this post. The following three pictures are Jack after I finished breast feeding. Around 4.5 months...

As I watch the Superbowl I am trying to think of a topic for the blog...

Okay so I will address the obvious first. AKA the pictures. Abel tried rice cereal for the first time. He is officially 4.5 months old. Jack tried it at 4.5 months too! I went ahead and sought out some pictures of Jack at the same age trying rice cereal. Now that I am looking at his pictures, I realize just how skinny he really was!!! Abel is HUGE! When I put his current measurements (20+ lbs) into a growth chart it just says "above 95th percentile", which basically means off the chart. He is so big!

The only reason we considered letting him try the rice cereal (which we mix with breast milk) is because he literally is obsessed when we try to eat dinner. He will watch everyone eat. He will look at your food like he is about to eat it (which is hilarious since he can't eat it).

He has only tried it about 3 times. We mix the organic rice cereal with breast milk. He is pretty good at taking it from a spoon. I don't mind a little organic rice cereal mixed with breast milk. Normally I would tell people to wait until 6 months to feed anything other than breast milk, but he REALLY wants to eat something solid. His main staple food is still breast milk, but he just likes to occasionally get the extra rice cereal to practice with semi-solids. Since he is so big I don't really worry about it. He can handle it.

We won't try him on fruits and veggies until after 6 months. That is the plan at least. I recently bought a new breast pump online. It was a purchase made with some hesitance. When I breast fed Jack I had to give it up after 4.5 months due to my job. I literally couldn't pump at work and I would do 12 hour shifts, 3 days in a row. After a few weeks my supply dwindled. So far at my new job I am able to pump to keep up my supply, and I am trying not to work 3 days in a row.

Recently my breast pump has been giving me a little trouble, I can tell it is on the verge of dying. I have had it since before Jack was born. I originally didn't invest much money in a breast pump since I wasn't sure if I would be breast feeding very long. I bought a "Lansinoh Double Electric" breast pump initially. So far it has lasted much longer than I anticipated. I can tell that it is on it's last leg so I had to make the decision. Am I breast feeding or am I going to formula???

Since I technically work full time it would probably be easy to go to formula, but I don't want to. Breast feeding Abel has been much much easier than it was with Jack. Going to formula could mean an extra $200/$300 per month I looked into new pumps and they are anywhere from $200-$500 easily. After talking it over with Ed we decided that I am going to attempt to breast feed Abel longer than I made it with Jack. My original goal was 6 months. We will see if I get there, and then going further than that will be a bonus in my eyes.

I went ahead and ordered the Medela Pump in Style. Very pricey...but when we calculated what it would cost to pay for stupid formula, we both agreed it would be better to breast feed. *knock on wood* Abel has never been sick. As l0ng as he does not get his teeth and bite me, I am happy to continue breast feeding him. He is such a sweet baby. Obviously the boobs are doing his little body good since he is so chunky. I love a chunky baby!!!!!! So the goal at this point is to continue breast feeding as long as possible since it seems to work so well for him.

My new breast pump came today! Hopefully it will be amazing and I will be able to breast feed until 1 year! Wish me luck!!! :)

Week 151

2012-02-04T07:56:00.001-05:00

Jan 18-24

I really want to talk about something that has been bothering me. I don't usually write about serious things in this blog, but lately I have been thinking about these things. Maybe it is because of the people I observe on a daily basis. Maybe it is because the way that society has evolved. Maybe it is just my take on the way that kids are raised these days.

Abel 4.5 months!

Jack at lunch

Well raised is a nice way of putting it. The way kids are ignored these days is a more honest observation. You see it everywhere. Kids crave the attention of their parents. They practically beg for it. When they don't get it they act out. It's not just at home but in schools. Teachers are strapped with double the load they had years ago. It is impossible to give the attention that they would like. In many families both parents work. They use this as an excuse. I think that it is a lame excuse. They are simply too lazy to pay attention to their kids when it is easier to stick them in front of a T.V., a computer, an iPad, a cell phone, video game, any kind of electronic device that alleviates the responsibility of the parent to actually interact with their child.

Jack at Monkey Joe's on a Busy Bees play date

I am not an unrealistic person. I know people have to work. Trust me, I get that. We couldn't survive without a paycheck. We all have bills. We have to work. I know that in this house we have to work, we have always worked. The difference with us is that we have always been lucky enough to make it work. How do I explain this phenomenon? Okay so we both have always worked full time, and somehow manage to spend a reasonable amount of time with our children. Enough to avoid day care completely. The most "help" we have ever had in the past was a few hours a couple of days a week in our own home via private (awesome) sitters.

Abel at Monkey Joe's after he enjoyed his lunch.

Jack taking a break from the bounce houses and playing with cars by himself.

Even that little bit of "outside" help has made me hyper aware of the time I spend with my children. I feel guilty sometimes about working full time, but in reality the time spent away from my kids is minimal compared to most. On the days (actually nights) I work I spend all day with the kids, we have dinner as a family, and as I am leaving the house Ed is giving the kids their baths...books and bed follow behind. When I get home from work they have been up for maybe an hour or two. Not too shabby right? I still feel guilty about it. I usually have to sleep for a few hours to be a functioning human being, but then I try to be full force and involved. I only work 3 days a week (full time for a nurse) yet I still feel that I don't spend enough time with the kids. This is one of the reasons I get so mad when people have a bunch of kids and then don't invest the time and effort to raise them.

As most of you know Ed is going back to school. We have been lucky so far and very rarely overlap a day when I need to sleep with a day that he goes to class. This means that 95% of the time when he goes to school I am off and therefore have plenty of time to spend with the kids (the few times we have overlapped, my mom has watched the kids). I try my best to fill our schedule with stimulating activities. Play groups, craft projects, games, fun play, educational adventures, etc. I don't believe in sitting around the house all day watching TV. I mix all of these things in with the other necessary evils like laundry, cleaning, organizing, etc. Lately I have been just waiting until after the kids go to bed to do the other things because I don't want to put Jack in front of a TV and Abel in his jumperoo just so I can pick up the house.

Our "love bugs" craft project out of toilet paper rolls

I strive to spend as much time as possible with my kids. Ed does the same. We both agree that we want our kids to be happy and that family will always come first. I think another thing that makes us different from most people these days is that we are married...happily...with kids (ourkids together). I know that everyone has different situations so I'm not knocking single parent families, blended families, or any other kinds of families. On the other hand I think that the incidence of all these situations has increased tremendously in the past 25 years and I truly believe that kids can be effected negatively.

Engineer Jack

"All Aboard!!!!!"

Kids need stability. Kids need consistency. Kids need rules. Kids need security. Most of all kids need love. You can't give kids the proper example of love if you don't have it yourselves. I think there is so much inconsistency these days. Kids worry about their parents splitting up, new families, new siblings, etc. That is too much for one kids to worry about. Mostly I am trying to talk about the parents who push their kids to the side. Dump their kids on everyone and anyone who will take them. I can't stand leaving my kids...unless it's the rare time I leave them with my mom or Ed's mom so that we can have some quality time. Trust me that is not neglecting my kids because they are getting just as much attention (if not more) from their grandmothers as we give them.

Jack ran into his buddy London at the Circus!

Mommy and Jack

The elephant parade!

I know that my kids probably get more attention than most, but I also hope that I still feel the guilt because it makes me strive to be a better parent. I'm kind of glad that we both work and that we make it a family effort to give our kids attention, thus keeping them out of day care. I couldn't be a 100% stay at home mom. I am selfish like that. I like to work. I like to get out of the house and help the less fortunate. Then when I am home I don't take my time for granted. I make every moment count.

He loved the show!

You have to get a toy at the circus!

So here is my thought for the week. I am so sick of seeing parents who ignore their kids. Who think their kids are a burden. Don't get me wrong. There are days when my kids drive me crazy and test my patience. These are the times I remind myself that I brought them into this world and it is my job to enjoy them, teach them, love them. They grow up so quickly. I can only put forth my best effort and hope that Ed and I can show them the kind of love they need to be wonderful, happy people. I look at them and marvel at how quickly they change. Jack talks now...really talks. He has opinions and independent thoughts. I love talking to him.

Family photo op!

Daddy and Jack!

Hot dogs!

This week we took Jack to the circus. Ed and I figured he hasn't done anything with just the three of us in a long time so we figured he would enjoy this (my mom watched Abel for us). We got tickets to the circus and then took him out to lunch at one of his favorite places...Sandy's Hot Dogs. He had a blast! He has never been to the circus and his eyes got so wide when the music came on and everything started coming out...elephants, dancers, fire, clowns, etc. It was awesome! I was hoping to get amazing pictures, but they didn't allow camera's inside the facility. Too bad everyone has a camera on their phone these days and since everyone else was taking pictures I decided I should too.

Silly!

Love him!

Week 150

2012-01-17T14:18:00.003-05:00

Jan 11-17

I feel like my two boys are getting so BIG! People told me that with two kids the time seems to fly by even faster than before. It is so true. I feel like things are changing right before my eyes and I can't slow everyone down. I am going to take this post to talk about each kid and what they are doing. Coincidentally Abel turned 4 months old this week. FOUR MONTHS! He was just born. Wow. I took time this week to take some pictures of both boys together and then individually. Kind of a picture heavy post, but I really thought they turned out well so I hope you enjoy! :)

Abel weighs in at 18 lbs 9.6 oz and is 27 in tall (both 95th percentile). He is exclusively breast fed. He is an excellent eater and has been gaining weight without any problems. This time around I have had very much support with my job in being able to pump when I am at work. I think it helps that I work nights. He recently went from 4 oz bottles to 5 oz bottles when I am gone. The change caused him to sleep anywhere from 6-8 hour stretches at night. So amazing. He is taking around three naps per day. It is a little bit more of a challenge to get him on a schedule because we do more things and are on the go. With Jack we just worked around his schedule, but Abel sometimes gets moved around when it is nap time. He does okay though.

He is such a happy baby. Sometimes he will be asleep and I will think to myself, "he has been sleeping for a long time," and go check on him. I will find him lying awake in his bed waiting patiently for someone to come get him. He usually gives you a big smile when you come scoop him up out of his crib.

He loves his jumperoo. He will jump in that thing for 30 minutes if you let him. I think he likes it because he is upright and can see everything big brother Jack is doing. If you pay any attention to him he will laugh and smile. He is also a talker. A loud talker. He will go on and on in his little baby babble and it is adorable.

We think he is starting to cut a tooth because he has been excessively drooling, chewing on his fingers, and has the rosiest cheeks I have ever seen on a baby. So far we haven't seen anything, but we are on the lookout. I think it will appear in the next few days. Other things he likes to do: cuddle, sit in his Bumbo seat, play with big brother, take baths. He is a sweet baby.

Jack is almost 3 years old!!! He weighs 35 lbs 3.2 oz and is 38.5 in tall (both 90th percentile). He has really grown up in the past few months since baby brother came home. I am delighted that he doesn't seem to be jealous of his new brother. I think a big part of that is he is such a Daddy's boy and doesn't really mind when I'm feeding the baby. He is very helpful and will get diapers, throw things away, and share his bath with Abel.

For Christmas Jack got a new bike from my dad. He had a tricycle, but it was the more upright old fashioned one. This one is more of a "lowrider" tricycle and he jumped right on and pedaled it (with the help of Uncle Andy bribing him with candy). Ed and I got him the other tricycle last year for Christmas and he has yet to ride it using the pedals. Well suddenly he can do both bikes. He loves to ride them around. I am so happy we live on a cul-de-sac and he can just go down our driveway and have the freedom to ride his bike without worrying about traffic.

Jack has dropped his nap altogether, but he still goes to bed at 7:00 pm and wakes up around 7:00 am. He has always been an early riser. Sometimes if we are lucky he will get up and cuddle with us in our bed for an extra 30 minutes. We put on cartoons and he sits between us. We seriously need to get a king sized bed. Sometimes Abel will wake up to eat at the same time and all four of us are in a queen bed. It is a squeeze!!

He has started playing games. His favorites are Memory, Candy Land, the Fishing Game, and Hi-Ho-Cherry-O. He actually "gets" the rules and will play. Sometimes his attention span isn't great enough for an entire game, but he is getting better. He also has mastered upper and lower case letters and counts to 14. He knows all of his colors. He also can name basic shapes (circle, square, triangle, star, rectangle, crescent moon). He can draw a circle.

His vocabulary and language skills amaze me every day. He speaks in full sentences and says the funniest things. The other day we were in the car and I had the radio on. He said, "turn the radio off Mommy, I want to talk." Um, okay. LOL. He still loves to read books. We read every day many times throughout the day. He is really picking up on things. Today we were reading "Fox in Socks" by Dr Seuss and he pointed at the title and said "what does that say Mommy?" When we are focusing on one word I sound it out for him and show him how the letters fit together to make the word. Maybe we will have a good reader. I hope so. I loved to read when I was a kid and would literally plow through books.

Week 149

2012-01-16T14:34:00.002-05:00

Jan 4-10

Since moving here we have been looking for a part time preschool for Jack. I definitely want to enroll him somewhere this fall so that he can be around other kids on a regular basis. He has a social personality so he absolutely LOVES to play with other kids. When we lived in FL and he went to "school" three days a week he really liked it. Now that we have Abel it is really hard for me to entertain Jack the way I usually do. Jack is a super smart kid so he truly benefits from structured activities. He especially loves to read books, play games, and do puzzles. He also likes imaginative play and will beg you to "play choo-choos" or "play cars" with him. Sometimes he will pretend that he cooked you dinner and you have to play along with his whole story line.

Almost 4 months old!

Getting so big!

I really enjoy playing with Jack, but he literally yearns for attention every waking hour he is up. I can't feed Abel, clean up, make meals, etc. Until we had Abel Jack rarely watched any TV. I am ashamed to say that lately he has been watching more and more because it is the only way we can get anything done around here. Hopefully if we can find some type of morning "school" that doesn't cost too much, he can have an outlet to really play with other kids.

Sitting up in his Bumbo

I can't wait until Abel gets a little older and bigger, because I can already tell that these two are going to be nice entertainment for each other. Jack seems to love his little brother, and is very sweet to him. Abel cracks up when Jack pays attention to him. He loves to take a bath with his big brother. These two crack me up when they interact.

Despite living in the middle of nowhere, we have tried to get out of the house more often. The Busy Bees play group has been a lifesaver. It's on meetup.com for anyone who wants to join. I would recommend it. So far all of the "bees" have been amazing people who have similar interests as us. Jack really enjoys it. One of the things on their calendar was $1.00 night at EdVenture Museum. It is a Children's Museum in downtown Columbia. They definitely cater to kids, because it was absolutely adorable. We normally wouldn't go to the museum so late (it was from 5:00 pm-8:00 pm) but we couldn't pass up this great deal. It would normally cost our family around $28.00 so we had a savings of $25.00.

Construction

Farm

Mini grocery shopping (super cute!)

Checking out.

Riding a camel.

Daddy and Abel jumped in for a quick picture!

We made a fun family night out of it. First we went for an early dinner at Andy's Deli (one of our favorite Columbia pastimes). Then we headed to the museum. Ed and I had never been there before. Jack had gone one time before with his Aunt Caroline. It was really neat to check everything out. They had plenty of activities for the kids. The hardest part was keeping up with him.

Music

Dentistry

Counting the teeth

Not sure what this is, but it looks cool

Veterinarian

I thought the dentist display was adorable. He loved pretending to clean the mannequin's teeth. Also the vet display was fun. They had all kinds of things. There was a firetruck display where you could put on uniforms and climb all over a real truck, but Jack wouldn't put the uniform on, nor would he look at me for pictures when we were in that area, so I didn't get any good pictures of that particular display. Oh well maybe next time. There was much more than what you see in the pictures, we just kind of checked everything out quickly. You could easily spend a whole afternoon playing in the different areas and levels of the museum. We enjoyed it.

In other news we have officially started a new workout plan. It's called Les Mills Pump. From the same people who do Insanity and Asylum. Here is the box. It's supposed to be pretty intense and lasts 90 days. We will track our progress and hopefully succeed. More on that later. :)

Week 148

2012-01-10T20:58:00.002-05:00

Dec 28-Jan 3

Well I finished my first full week of working night shift. I have been so worried about returning back to work for so long. I can't even tell you how many times I have gone over the schedule over and over in my head. I worried that Abel wouldn't sleep at night for Ed, that I wouldn't be able to sleep during the day, that it would be horrible. I guess the only good thing about coming back to work after having a little baby is that you are already conditioned to be sleep deprived. I have to say, it is not half as bad as I made it out to be in my head.

The boys in their Penguins jerseys...thanks Pap and Mary Ann!

I love this!!!

Next kid better be a girl, or I'm going to have to get used to sports on TV all the time.

I am on orientation to the Pediatric Emergency Department. I really like that this hospital eases you into your new job. Not only am I with a preceptor (another nurse) for a few months, but they are also sending me to a bunch of different classes. Some people might think this would be overkill, but I think it's awesome. I love learning new and up to date information so I don't mind getting refresher courses on such topics as "Pediatric Emergency Situations" and "Documentation." It is always good to know what you are doing. I feel like when I am put on my own I will be very comfortable and ready for anything that walks in the door. Literally. In the E.D. you really never know what may fly through that door. You really can't even be prepared for 'everything' per say, but you should try your best to be!

Big boy Abel!

Awww! He will be 4 months old in a couple of weeks!

So after my first week of work I had the weekend off, which was pretty cool because it was New Years. Ed and I went out New Years Eve and partied it up. I think we were up until 5:00 am drinking and celebrating. It was out of control. WILD, WILD night!!!!

Um, NOT!

Hahaha! Did you think I was serious? We were in our pajamas at 8:00 and in bed asleep by 11:00. We haven't celebrated New Years properly since before we had kids. Here is the last time that was...we were pretty damn sexy in our day.

New Years Eve 2008

Want another laugh? Here we are later that same night...

Woooohooooo!!!!

LOL! Good times, good times! So anyway we were in bed by 11:00 and then the next day we went to Ed's moms house for New Years Day. I got some kind of nasty stomach bug (probably from my new job) and was pretty much laid up in bed most of the day in between puking. I was pretty annoyed because Ed's mom makes a really good New Years Day dinner and I was really looking forward to eating it. Oh well, there is always next year. Luckily it was only a 24 hour bug because the next day it was back to work.

During the week Uncle Will and Kristen came by to bring their presents. I told Will not to get us anything but he didn't listen and got us ALL something. It was super nice of him. We didn't get to see him on Christmas because he worked at the Fire Station. Jack was super excited to open presents yet again (this kid is so spoiled!). He loves playing with Will and Kristen so he was pretty happy about them coming over, as you can see in these pictures.

He couldn't wait to open them all up!

Hurry up mom! I can't sit still!

So it is now 2012. That is so crazy. Last year was a roller coaster of everything you can imagine, so I hope this year settles down a little bit. Not that I would change anything, but it will be good to just get into a routine and enjoy each other. New Years resolution? Well of course since I just had a baby mine is to get into shape. Ed and I gained almost 10 pounds each over the holidays...yeah I know...disgusting!! Most of it was just eating pure junk and drinking beer. Even this week when I cut out the obvious junk and the alcohol I already lost 6 pounds. That just shows how much beer can make you retain water.

Jack and his beloved train table

We have a long way to go. We are starting a new workout program. It's called Les Mills Pump. It's from the same company as Insanity and Asylum. We will see how it all works out. I am a little nervous about fitting in working out with all of the other craziness we have in our lives. Hopefully we make it through. This program is 90 days so it is by far the longest one we have ever tried. I have to lose weight though, literally none of my clothes fit. We will get there. I will make another video of my progress and will debut it once I finish.

To finish up this post here is a cute little video of Jack and Abel.

Week 147

2011-12-26T20:44:00.012-05:00

Dec 21-27

Oh my goodness! I am so far behind on my blogging and I am so sorry if you have been waiting to be updated. We had such a nice Christmas this year. I was so engrossed in my last few days with the family (before going back to work full time) that I just didn't feel like blogging. I've been taking notes and getting my pictures in order so that I can recall all of our fun times for the week of Christmas.

Christmas is such a special time. Not only for all of the obvious reasons, but I always think of it as a time to look back on the whole year and remember all of the special times we have had as a family. This year our little family has undergone so many changes it is unreal. A pregnancy, a new baby, a big move to another state, losing a job, gaining a job, graduating from college, going back to college for another degree. Luckily most of our life changing events are positive ones, but they still cause a lot of stress. I think we have endured everything gracefully. We are finally pulling through to a point that we can 'settle' into a routine. More on that later.

Chunker!

Love him!

As you all know the Storch family is big on traditions all throughout the year and Christmas is no exception. Before Ed and I even had kids we made a decision that Christmas Eve would be a sacred family day...just our family. We also decided that we always want our kids to wake up in their own beds on Christmas morning. Remember that we just moved "back home" to be close to family so it has been interesting trying to fit everyone's traditions together. We have never really had to take others into consideration because we always lived away and were pretty much on our own. I felt kind of bad because my dads side of the family spends Christmas Eve together and we were invited...but we had to respectfully decline.

Showing his little brother something.

Baby's 1st Christmas!!!!

I'm sure some people do big things on Christmas Eve. We literally sit at home and hang out. It is very low key and sounds boring, but it is our special family holiday tradition. We enjoy each others company, eat good food, and wait for night time so we can really get into some Storch family holiday traditions. After dinner we all get in our Christmas pajamas, basque in the glow of the Christmas tree, and enjoy opening one present. This year Jack opened a new fire truck from Mommy and Daddy. He played with it while Ed and I sat around and talked. After awhile it was time for bed and we set out cookies and milk for Santa. This year Jack was really into it. He took it upon himself to carry the plate of cookies out by the fire place.

Loves his new Fire Truck!

These boys are my heart!

Merry Christmas Eve!!

So cute!

When it was time for kids to go to sleep we all snuggled up on Jack's bed and read The Night Before Christmas. We told him Santa would come tonight if he went to sleep and he did. The rest of the evening Ed and I hung out with each other, enjoyed a few drinks, talked about life, and went to bed at a decent time. We couldn't wait until Christmas morning. I think we were more excited than Jack was. We wrapped all of the presents, placed them under the tree, and got everything ready for the next morning. We set our alarms and planned on getting up at 5:00 am so that we could get up to make coffee, get the camera ready, and make sure everything was perfect.

Left these cookies and milk out for Santa...

He ate them!!!

When Jack wandered out on Christmas morning we were ready. We even captured on camera the moment he laid eyes on all of the presents. It was great! He was so different this year and tore through his presents like a champion. He got a ton of Thomas the Train accessories for his train table. These toys are insanely expensive, but they are so worth the money. They are mostly wood, and the quality/durability factor is remarkable, so they will last forever. I think of them as an investment. Jack got his Thomas Train table for Christmas last year and he literally plays with it every single day. Worth every penny. These kinds of toys are timeless in my opinion.

Opening presents!

He was a pro this year!

Sitting with his presents from Santa!

The tree on Christmas morning!!

Ed's yummy breakfast casserole right before going in the oven!

Abel emptying the contents of his stocking!

LOVE those cheeks!!!!!

Okay so back to the story. Jack loved Christmas morning. He was so excited to play with all of his toys. After playing for a little bit, Mimi, Uncle Andy, and Aunt Caroline came over (Uncle Will had to pull an extra shift at the Fire Station being the new guy and all). It was like "ding, ding, ding, ROUND TWO!" Haha! Jack got more presents including a remote control car from Andy and Caroline that he loves. He also got a Leapfrog kid learning computer thing from Mimi. It is fun to start playing games with him and seeing him understand rules and how things work.

Uncle Andy and Aunt Caroline!

She loves this little baby!

After Round Two of presents we packed up the kids in the car and drove over to Sumter to visit Grandma (Ed's mom), Big Hartin, and Uncle Lucius. Round Three of Christmas!!! Everyone loves Grandma's house. She of course made all of her delicious cookies so we could snack on them while we were hanging out. We got right into opening presents. It was like another full blown Christmas!!! Uncle Ryan and Aunt Amanda also came over. Jack was in hog heaven. He helped everyone open their presents while he also played with a million new toys. Abel got a much needed new car seat. He is so big and broad shouldered, he seriously can't fit into his little baby carrier seat. He LOVES his new car seat. It is the same one as big brother Jack but in a different color. Suddenly he can enjoy a car ride now. Imagine that. :)

Ed and Abel with Uncle Lu

Grandma's Christmas tree!

Yum!

My favorite!!!

Digging in...

Abel's new car seat!

Grandma loved her gift!

Abel with Uncle Lu!

We got lovely gifts from Big Hartin and Cindy. After opening presents we had a huge Christmas dinner. Mmmm. So delicious!!! We stayed the night and played games, enjoyed drinks, and each others company. It was such a nice time. The next day we packed up the car full of presents and went home. It was back to reality and my first official week in the Pediatric ER. More on that in the next post.

Week 146

2011-12-19T21:18:00.001-05:00

Dec 14-20

Christmas is in less than a week! Thank goodness we finished our Christmas shopping over a month ago. Two things made it easy this year: 1. We are poor with no income and only shopped for Jack, 2. We used amazon.com after picking what we wanted at the toy store and it was super duper fast with free shipping! Now that's my kind of shopping. I HATE the mall or any other stores this time of year. I know it is supposed to be the Christmas season, but I feel like everyone else seems to think it is the Greedy season. It is crowded and busy, there are lines for everything, and people push. It is cold/flu season and I don't really feel like being in an enclosed space with such a high volume of people. I just don't have the patience for it. I would much rather spend time at home with my family.

Cheesy Christmas picture with Santa

I feel so bad that we aren't able to get Christmas presents for our friends/family this year. We have been so fortunate in the past in being able to do so. Sometimes when your situation changes it can really put things into perspective. In our 5 (almost 6) years of marriage we have been so blessed to the point that we were practically disillusioned. We both always worked and made decent money. We have never wanted for anything. Although we are pretty good with our money (as in no credit card debt, good credit scores, etc) we could definitely have saved way more than we did if we would have made just a few minor changes (without even really giving anything up).

The boys helping decorate cookies.

Pre-icing and sprinkles

We weren't crazy with money, we did not spend in excess, but if we wanted to do something we did it. Now that I am going back to work things are definitely going to be better...but at the same time Ed is going back to school and not working. It is a slight pay cut, but there are some huge advantages to the situation. He is going back to school to get a degree that will give him major earning potential as opposed to fire fighting (which he will now do as a volunteer...fun fact: 70% of firefighters are volunteer). He is also much more available to watch our two kids, thus saving tons of money on babysitting and/or daycare. Ed is super lucky to have gotten a bachelors degree while in the Navy while still having almost 2.5 years worth of "free" school left on his Post 9/11 GI Bill. It means free school + around $1,000.00/month allowance.

This kid loves sprinkles!!!

For this kind of situation I don't mind sacrificing. We have discussed canceling the cable and the house phone. We are living in a super cheap area of town. We find ourselves shopping at Walmart for food instead of Publix. Generic items are beginning to dominate our pantry as opposed to our usual name brand. Now that we are both super busy and have two kids we figure we are going to have to start making some super cheap and easy meals. Luckily when you are cooking with your handy dandy crock pot, you can buy a cheaper cut of meat and it is not as noticeable. At one time I tried to clip coupons but I just don't have the time or patience for that kind of thing.

Aren't they pretty?

It is kind of fun to strategize how we are going to make the most of our money and "make it" through this time. We make an awesome team and fantasize about one day both being nurses with advanced degrees (double doctors...say what?!) and making some serious money. I can say that we are really starting to appreciate the simple things in life. It feels great to focus on what is important.

Cute little family of sugar cookie stockings!

With the holidays coming up it is always good to remember what is important to you. I have always said that as long as I have my family I will be okay. It is true. I am so thankful to have a roof over my head, food (even if it is GV brand) on the table, and a brain to figure out how to make everything work!

I think my favorite are the Chrismas trees

This year since we don't have the money to buy people nice gifts we decided we would show our love in another way. Baking. One of the great Christmas traditions that I love to partake in is baking cookies!!! I highlighted a couple of our cookies in the last post. This week we finished up the sugar cookies. These are the best Christmas cookies, because you get to sit down and spend time together while you decorate them! I like to blast Christmas music and sit down to watch my family make the most beautiful cookies you have ever seen!

He is such a great helper!

Aunt Caroline assisting.

After we baked and decorated these cookies we delivered them. Here is a picture of my little helper Jack. :) Aunt Caroline came along to help too.

Jack playing with My Little Ponies

A quick shout out to Hope the Wonder Dog. It was her 7th (we think) birthday this week. When we rescued her we made her birthday December 15th and have celebrated the past 6 years. This is a picture after she ate her cheap steak. :)

Week 145

2011-12-16T15:55:00.003-05:00

Dec 7-13

Christmas festivities are in full swing! This week was my birthday, which means that Christmas is only 2 weeks away! As a family, we love Christmas and all that it entails. The festivities and traditions have become quite a significant part of our memories. It seems like the more years that go by, the more traditions we add on each year. I would say that this year will be remembered for the "choo-choo train."

Thomas our choo-choo!

We went to Lowe's and got the supplies to build a platform underneath our tree. We have a village that we started years ago. We love the village, but we haven't put it out since Jack was born. Once it started really growing, we really didn't have the space to put it anywhere all together. Hence the platform. It is perfect for displaying our village pieces and we even have plenty of room to grow. The one thing that was missing was the train.

The whole thing for the effect.

Ed and I did research and looked everywhere. Surprisingly there are many places that don't even sell trains. We finally found some at Toys 'R Us. We purchased one (hesitantly) and when we brought it home it didn't fit on the platform. All of the models at the store seemed way too big, so we resorted to looking online. We found the perfect addition to our village. Thomas.

Jack watching his new train go around and around the track!

This particular Thomas is not like the wooden trains that Jack plays with every day. It is an electric train with three connecting cars, that runs on an oval track. After measuring the platform and figuring out how it would fit on our track, we ordered it. It is perfect!!!! We set it up one night when Jack was asleep and the next morning took some video of him when he walked out to the living room and saw it for the first time. It was truly love at first sight. He now knows exactly how to work the controls and make it go around the track. He is obsessed with it. We love that he will be excited every year to set up his train around the Christmas tree.

Jack put on my socks and this was the look. Hilarious!

For the weekend Ed surprised me by arranging a night away. Yes, a whole night away from our two kids! Wahooooo!!! We haven't had a real date for almost a year so this was awesome! After dropping the kids off at Grandma's house we headed to our swanky hotel and relaxed for a bit.

Ed at Happy Hour. Cheers!

After relaxing we got ready for our night out. I actually took a shower, uninterrupted and got ready without people hanging on me, having to feed someone, or listening to anyone have a meltdown. It was nice. When we were ready we headed down to the lobby for happy hour. After a few drinks we caught a cab and headed down to the Vista for dinner at The Liberty Tap Room. We enjoyed some seasonal beers on tap along with a variety of appetizers.

Me at Happy Hour.

After hanging out for a bit we walked around the corner and stumbled upon a bar where we could play some games. First we played darts. I won. Then we played shuffleboard. Ed won. After all of that we caught a cab back to the hotel and the rest is history...

He was good at shuffleboard.

But I was good at darts!

He just couldn't get those bulls-eyes.

I am not good at shuffleboard, but it sure is fun!

The next morning we slept in. Okay lets get real, we are parents to two children now. We slept in until 8:30 because we both just automatically wake up super early now. Even on the rare days that Jack and Abel sleep past 7:00 Ed and I are both awake before that because we are waiting for them to wake up any minute. It's the curse of parenthood. LOL.

Gourmet cupcakes in a pretty pink box!

Happy Birthday to me!

After a delicious breakfast in peace we went to pick up the boys. It was nice to have a night away, but I was excited to see them. We all went home and had a nice quiet family day. After relaxing for a bit we got everyone dressed and went downtown to pick up some gourmet cupcakes from Cupcake. We chose six flavors and put them in the car for after dinner. For dinner that night we went to Pawley's Front Porch. It was this new place downtown in Five Points. The burgers were awesome! The one I got had pimento cheese and jalapeno bacon. Yum!

Jack helped take off the candles.

When we got home we sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed cupcakes!

Later this week we ventured out to Lexington to try out a new place called Monkey Joe's. It's like a giant indoor bounce house for kids. You pay for a wristband (it was around $5.00) and get unlimited play time to jump, run, bounce, climb, and play! I was a little nervous Jack wouldn't be able to do some of them because they were HUGE! Once again he proved me wrong and climbed up each and every one of them without hesitation or fear.

He has no fear.

Big eyes!

Jump, jump, jump!

He had a blast! I think we were there for over 2 hours. Afterwards we stopped by a new neighborhood that we have been interested in looking at. We really want to get out of our rental and possibly build/buy a house in the next year. We found out that with our credit and even with just my single income we can get a really nice house. We both agree that we are tired of pouring money into rentals. It would actually cost less for a brand new, big house mortgage payment than it would to rent. Craziness!

As most of you know Ed has changed his career path to nursing. The Fire Department decided he was way over qualified to be an entry-level firefighter. I think it was all meant to happen because Ed has always been interested in nursing. When he went back to school (while still Active Duty in the Navy) he wanted to do nursing, but they wouldn't let him because he could not do it all online. Now he can do the career that he wants, and we will be in a position to boost our earning potential significantly. As awesome as firefighter are, they definitely do not get compensated for what they do. To make a long story short, it will be back to school for Ed come January!

Supplies for cookie baking!

Such a big boy!

For final thoughts of this week, we started our Christmas cookie baking. This is another part of our holiday traditions. I LOVE Christmas cookies!! We are of course making my sugar cookies. I can't wait to decorate them! We also opted to try two new recipes. The first was a s'mores cookie recipe I got from my friend Ashley. They are kind of like a chocolate chip cookie but with graham cracker crumbs in the cookie and marshmallows/hershey bars on the top. We actually put our cookies in the broiler for about a minute to get that traditional s'mores toasty marshmallow effect. They turned out great!

This kid loves cookie dough!

The boys.

Daddy and Abel helping with cookie baking.

The other cookies we tried are called Candy Cane Blossoms. As you all know, I LOVE peanut butter blossoms (the cookie with a hershey kiss on top). This is a similar idea, but instead of a peanut butter cookie it is a version of a sugar cookie with a peppermint flavored hershey kiss on top! Yum!

S'mores cookies!

Candy cane blossoms.

Jack had a blast helping me out. I had to keep the tasks simple and not turn my back for one second. He kept sneaking bits of cookie dough.

Week 144

2011-12-07T15:17:00.008-05:00

Nov 30-Dec 6

I can't believe it is December! Where did November go? Christmas is right around the corner and I am so excited! I start my new job in about 3 weeks so Ed and I decided to make a big list of things we needed to get done before I went back to work. You know those things you have to do when you are an adult? The things you just HATE doing? Yeah well we made a huge list and we have knocked out most of it.

Jack playing outside.

We moved here in July/August and then had a baby right away so we never had the chance to get new SC drivers licenses, license plates, and pay property taxes (which we did not have to do in FL so it sucks we have to do it now). I think you have like 90 days when you are military and since Ed technically didn't even get out of the military until October 15th we were in no hurry to pay for all of this. Our tags were due to expire the end of December so we figured we might as well.

Check out our cool Veterans tags!

I told him Merry Christmas to us! The first thing we paid was the taxes ($500+). Then we had to go to the DMV and get the cars registered, get new plates, and also get new licenses. That added about another $100 to the bill. Don't you love paying for things like this right before Christmas? Or anytime for that matter. I'm not even going to get into the whole DMV story because it will take forever to tell you all the details and will also probably piss me off just thinking about it. Long story short we had to make 2 trips, wait more than 2 hours, and then we finally got our stuff done. It was not the best day.

Jack playing at Grandma's house.

December 2nd was Ed's moms birthday. I think she turned 35? Something like that. Well we celebrated by meeting her, Big Harvin, Ryan, and Amanda in downtown Columbia at a restaurant called Garibaldi's. I had personally never been to it before and the food was delicious. If you are in the Columbia area you should check it out. Small though, so make reservations. :) I really liked the food and the atmosphere. It was nice to have a grown up dinner without kids. My mom and brother were kind enough to watch both kids. My first time leaving Abel and it went smoothly. He drank a bottle without issues and ended up sleeping most of the time we were gone. Then he slept 7 hours in a row for the first time so that was awesome.

Our homemade cake masterpiece!

Jack helping Daddy put on the candles.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

On Sunday we went over to Ed's moms house to watch the Steelers game. Jack and I baked her a cake since he didn't get to sing Happy Birthday to her. I must say it is my best decorated cake to date. For some reason cakes are hard for me. This time I made my own icing from scratch and it made a big difference. The store bought icing always runs for me, it's too soft. We had a nice afternoon. Jack played with his toys and Ed and his mom watched the game. The Steelers won so all in all the afternoon was a success! After the game we had dinner and then drove to see the Christmas lights at a park in Sumter. It was so neat! The city decorates this area you can pretty much drive through with your kids and they had everything in lights from Spider Man to Santa Claus, to huge Christmas scenes. Jack loved it.

Jack in his Steelers gear for the game. Even his Crocs are Steelers!

This week we had another thing to check off our list, which was to get Abel his shots. This has been delayed a bit because after we lost Ed's insurance we just got a plan that would cover us if we had a catastrophic event. I think the deductible is like $10,000 and it's not the type of insurance that covers well baby visits. I tried to figure out what we were going to do and we decided to take him to the Health Department. Apparently they used to do well baby visits andshots (for free). Now they just do the shots and you have to pay $13/shot. We didn't really care because we wanted him covered.

Poor baby!

Abel in his 12 month Steelers outfit. I think he might just play for them one day since he is so big!

As far as the well baby visit, I feel I am fully qualified to "examine" him. As nurse Elizabeth I will report that Baby Abel is very healthy. He meets all of his expected milestones and then some. He is still exclusively breastfed and weighs in at 16.5 lbs (>100th percentile), meaning he is off the charts for a 2.8 month old. He is sleeping in the night for 5 hours at a time, then he will wake up just to eat (maybe a diaper change if he needs one) and then go straight back to sleep.

Happy guy standing up with the help of Daddy!

He is very mellow and happy. Oftentimes I won't even hear him wake up, but will walk in his room to check on him and he will be patiently waiting for someone to get him. As soon as he makes eye contact he gives you a huge smile with his ginormous cheeks and you can see both of his deep set dimples. He has definitely mastered the social smile. Usually while he is smiling he will coo and gurgle at you if you talk to him. He can hold his head up for long periods of time. He does tummy time throughout the day, pretty soon he will be ready for the jumperoo and exersaucer. He loves taking a bath and will kick his legs the entire time. His favorite thing is to watch big brother Jack playing.

Jack and Hope in their Christmas attire.

Abel with his new Christmas bib from Grandma!

Candy cane from off the tree!

Week 143

2011-12-06T16:32:00.005-05:00

Nov 23-29

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving, a time for giving thanks for the good things in life. This is such a wonderful day because it allows everyone to step back and reflect. I always see it as a day of hope. No matter what happens in life, no matter how bad it might seem, there is always some good, somewhere, to be thankful for. Lucky for me I have a lot of good.

Chunky Abel taking his morning bath!

Despite being doubly unemployed and living in stupid Hopkins, we had an awesome Thanksgiving. I truly feel fulfilled to be blessed with such an amazing husband and children. I guess most people would be stressed to not have any income, reliable healthcare (besides the catastrophic coverage we have), or a home they own. I just don't feel that way. I know deep down that we have a strong marriage and an incredible family. Eventually we will have jobs we love, a home that we can call our own, and many more blessings. We just have to be patient.

Jack helping mommy make frosting for the cupcakes!

Our finished product!

It has taken me a long time to get to this point. My relationship with God has not been so strong in the past. The older I get the more my view changes. I feel like I have everything in the world and I don't want for a thing. Jobs will come. The right jobs (i.e. my last post). Ed is still waiting to hear from the fire department, but after all, it is Thanksgiving week. I know that in the end the right thing will come along...whether it is the Fire Department or some other opportunity. This family will prevail as long as we have each other.

Daddy and Abel on Thanksgiving.

John and Kelly

The boys hiding in the bushes!

I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately. I guess it is because I am suddenly a parent to two kids instead of one (which seems like such a greater responsibility for some reason). I have the best kids. I really do! They are amazing!!!! Smart, adorable, polite, sweet. I could go on and on but I will stop at this and tell you about our Thanksgiving day.

They had so much fun together!

Playing in the leaves.

Great Aunt Joan holding Abel

The table after everyone demolished the food. I really meant to get a before picture.

Cookie or Cupcake? Decisions, decisions...

We started the day off by celebrating an early Thanksgiving meal at my Aunt Ruthann and Uncle Art's house. I haven't seen some of my family on this side for years so it was nice to catch up. We brought the boys over around 11:30 and everyone was just arriving, including my Uncle John who happens to have two boys who are the same age as Jack (3 years and 4 years old). We had been telling Jack he was going to get to play with kids and he was super excited.

Pretty fall leaves!

Uncle Andy helping Jack out

Need a lift?

All of the "Smarr" cousins minus Will

Luckily the backyard is fenced in and those boys ran around nearly the entire time we were over there. They played in the leaves, on the hammock, in the house. My Aunt and Uncle have three grown boys and had saved some of their toys so the boys played with cars too. It seemed like everyone had brought the kids a little something so Jack walked away with coloring books, books, and candy. He had a blast! The food was delicious, and as usual my Aunt Ruthann was a wonderful hostess with every table set up nicely. Everything was beautiful. Everyone had a wonderful time. It amazes me how much our family has grown since the last time I had Thanksgiving over there.

The little boys on the hammock

They were laughing so hard!

Mommy and Abel! :)

After we ate our first meal it was time to get on the road to Grandma's house for dinner. It was awesome this year because everyone (aka Uncle Ryan, Aunt Amanda, and Uncle Lucius) was going to be together finally. As usual there was a delicious spread. There was a regular turkey and a fried turkey...yum! We enjoyed our dinner in their beautiful dining room.

Big Hartin cutting the turkey!

Everyone helping!

Pretty table setting!

Abel and Auntie Amanda

So after dinner we went home because on Friday morning we had to decorate for Christmas! This is a tradition we started a long time ago. Ed and I both love Christmas, especially the decorating that comes along with the holiday season. We especially love our tree because of all the special ornaments. We are suckers for ornaments. Every year we have a family one made. We also pick one with the year and put our picture in it. Nothing is better than sitting by the sweet glow of a Christmas tree and relaxing with your family. Jack really seemed to enjoy helping decorate the tree. I got a few shots. I really need to get some pictures of the finished product, I will post those in the next couple of weeks.

Carefully picking his ornaments to place on the tree.

So serious! :)

When we got all of our Christmas boxes out we found these Santa hats and took some fun, silly pictures of the boys in their pajamas. Cute! :)

Week 142

2011-11-23T19:19:00.004-05:00

Nov 16-22

I'm going to call this post: "Do what you want!" Because life is too short not to.

I think the biggest event of this week would be the phone call from Palmetto Richland Hospital offering me my dream job. :) PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT here I come! I am so excited because I feel like a certain chain of events has led me to where I am now in my career.

It is so funny because all through college I insisted that I wanted to work in pediatrics. My teachers told me I needed to try out a few different areas to really see what I would like. I still insisted I wanted to work with kids.

My first job as a nurse tech (kind of like a nurse assistant) was on a pediatrics floor at a small hospital in Georgia. I can still remember when I first stepped on that unit and saw the bright colors, toy room, stickers, cribs instead of big beds. The whole thing was catered to kids. I was in heaven. I just knew this was where I belonged. As a student working on the floor I learned as much as I could from those nurses. I asked questions and paid attention to every thing they did.

I don't know why, but for some reason nursing students are always told that you can't get your first job in places like pediatrics, emergency department, etc. "You have to work on a general medical/surgical floor first to get your skills down." That was all I ever heard. I think they just tell you that because no one wants to work there and they are always short staffed on those units. I remember thinking "forget that...I'm working pediatrics." That is what I did.

In my area there was one small community hospital down the street, one hospital 30 miles north in Brunswick (where I was a nurse tech), and a bunch of hospitals 30 miles south in downtown Jacksonville. I'm sure a normal person out of college would apply for as many jobs as they could and hope to get anything. I remember looking at all the jobs and thinking, "I don't like any of those." Then I saw a job for a nurse at Wolfson Children's Hospital. It wasn't even a job for a "new grad." I think they were asking for at least 1 year of experience. I applied anyway.

I got called in for an interview and I remember not even being that nervous when I walked in. I had convinced myself that this was my job and this is where I was supposed to be. I walked out of the interview with the job and to this day (so far) it was the best job I ever had. I learned so much from my preceptor Catie. She was amazing. I looked up to her so much and she taught me everything I needed to know. She was super smart. I remember she had just taken her test to be a Board Certified Pediatric Nurse and I was determined to do the same thing as soon as I could (you have to have at least 2 years experience and a bunch of other qualifications before you can take the test).

After one year of working at an amazing place, we had to move (thanks Navy). I was still determined to stay in pediatrics. It is a difficult field to get into because once people land the positions, they tend to stay there forever. The closest children's hospital was over an hour and a half away so that was out. I had three smaller hospitals near my house to choose from. There wasn't even a job in pediatrics listed anywhere, but I didn't see any other jobs I liked so I called the director of pediatrics and asked her if she would look over my resume and call me if something became available. She asked me to come down right away and interview and I had a job once again on the spot. When I had been a nurse for about a year and a half I started studying for my board certification. It's a pretty big deal and only one other nurse on the whole pediatrics unit had the title.

I was a little intimidated because I was the youngest nurse with the least experience on the pediatric unit. I studied for 6 months straight and then scheduled my test. When I found out that I had passed I was so excited!!! At this point I had worked on the pediatric unit at the small hospital for a year and business was slowly waning. We didn't really get a whole lot of kids and it was getting boring for me. This was when I decided to transfer to the Emergency Department. At least they get kids who come in there. It was definitely scary going from my safe world of pediatrics to full blown Emergency Department with EVERYTHING coming in. I learned so many new skills from the nurses there. I felt so lucky to be given the chance to work in the E.D. without experience.

When we first decided to move back home to Columbia I started stalking the jobs listed at the children's hospital. I REALLY wanted to work in the Pediatric Emergency Department. To this day, I have never seen a position listed for that job. When I was ready to apply for a new job after Abel had gotten a little older, I applied for a position in the regular adult E.D. thinking that it was at least one step closer and eventually I could transfer to where I wanted. When I was called to interview for the adult E.D. job I was told there weren't any positions available for the pediatric E.D. but my resume would be provided to the nurse manager.

A couple of days later the nurse manager called me and asked if I could come in for an interview. Of course I could!! I wasn't even sure if this was for a "real" job or just to keep me in mind in case something ever did come open. I had a total of three interviews for the job and after the last one (a peer interview with the night shift nurses) I received a call from the nurse recruiter offering me a full time night shift position in the pediatric E.D. Wahooo!!! It's like it was meant to be.

Don't ever let others convince you that you can't do what you want to do. If you are meant to do something, somehow it will happen. I am so excited to start my new job. Orientation is on December 19th.

In the meantime I am going to enjoy my last few weeks as a full time "stay-at-home" mom. We have had a lot of fun lately with our play group The Busy Bees. I have met tons of cool moms my age to hang out with (while Jack has had a blast playing with tons of other kids). This week we went to the fire station. It was cute. The firemen did a whole presentation for the kids with music and a puppet show. They also let the kids tour the station and climb all over the trucks. Each kid got a goodie bag and a hat. Jack kept asking where Uncle Will was. He didn't quite understand that this was a different fire station. He still loved it.

Next week is Thanksgiving and that means the end to our "fall/harvest" decorations. Christmas is coming!!! Almost time for the tree and all of the Christmas decorations. Have a great week!

Week 141

2011-11-15T17:13:00.004-05:00

Nov 9-15

Fall is officially here! The leaves are changing, the air is crisp and cool, and we are loving every minute of it! We decorated our house a couple of weeks ago and I never got a chance to take a picture. Jack's new art projects are also adorning my kitchen. More to come on that...

Creative handprint turkeys. :)

Awhile back, Ed and I decided that Abel's Baptism weekend would be our last weekend of "fun" eating...and then it would be time to buckle down and get serious. I am the worst pregnant person. I hate getting big and uncomfortable. I hate not having my body to myself. I HATE not being able to workout. I was cleared by my doctor and started the Asylum workout. As most of you know I completed the Insanity workout last year (here is my video transformation) with pretty good results. Asylum is from the same company and is even the same instructor in the video series...but a little bit different. This program is a bit more intense and only 30 days instead of 60 days.

Jack's fingerprint turkey.

Jack's handprint turkey.

I figured what better way to jolt myself back into some kind of shape? So now I have officially completed the first week of Asylum and I feel great. I can already tell the difference in the way my clothes fit. I have lost 4 lbs so far. Yay! I really need to lose about 40 lbs so I figure after Asylum I will keep it going with either Insanity again or maybe P90X. I will keep you posted. One thing at a time. Asylum is plenty enough on my plate right now.

As you all know Ed and I are both currently unemployed. He stopped getting paid from the Navy in the middle of October so we are living off of our savings and hoping to get hired soon. It is not ideal, but we fully predicted how we would work this all out a long time ago and saved up. Things are looking up though, and we both just might end up landing our dream jobs. I guess the only thing left is our dream house. Haha...one day.

He is working hard to join the City of Columbia Fire Department. As you read in my last post he completed the first portion of the hiring process and this week he received a phone call...and he has an interview on Tuesday!!! :) Wahoo! I know he will do great!

This is how he showed me his turkey for the camera.

I just think he is so cute.

So proud of his 'hand' turkey creation!

I have also been applying for nursing jobs. I applied for two jobs and got two interviews last week. Both interviews went very well and I have follow up interviews tomorrow. It is looking like I might have to choose between two jobs. Not a bad place to be in. It is so hard right now because I really prefer day shift (or at least 11a-11p like I had before) since I am still breastfeeding Abel and it will be super hard to work all night and be normal during the day to watch two little kids. It is hard enough already. Don't get me wrong, we have tons of fun and I love my boys but by the end of the day your patience and energy has been exhausted. Stay tuned for the outcome of all the interviews and the final decision.

I love these things!

Our 'Harvest' mantle

Because we are both not working we are definitely taking advantage of both being home. It makes it super easy to work out. Generally Ed works out first thing and as soon as he has finished and I have fed Abel, I will walk upstairs to do my workout. He will already have the DVD queued up on the TV and I am ready to go. I don't know how I will work out when we are both working. At first we thought we could just get up super early and get our workout in before the boys wake up. Well, Jack has started waking up at 5:00 am these days and so it is pretty difficult. I don't know what to do about him getting up so early. He has also dropped his nap completely. I really need to consult my sleep book, but who has time for that?

Jack's pilgrim hat.

This is what they do when I workout.

First time with finger paint.

Since Jack is too young for school and we aren't really in the position to pay for some kind of preschool thing at this time, we figured we should continue to stimulate his mind and teach him a few things at home. He is pretty smart for his age and it's not difficult for him to grasp new things. He knows all of his letters, colors, most shapes, he can count to 12. His speech is impeccable and his vocabulary grows on a daily basis. He has started having appropriate conversations instead of just mimicking things. The other night I asked if he liked his dinner and he replied, "yeah, it's really good!" He cracks me up.

Making turkey pictures!

Jack in the bath playing with his ABC's

Abel and I at the park. Please excuse the no makeup look.

We don't do anything grueling and drill him all the time. I try to be sneaky and interject teaching points within fun activities and games. When we play with Play-Doh and I will ask him what each color is as we are playing. Sometimes when we "play chalk" outside I will draw shapes and letters. I just kind of haphazardly ask him questions and that is how he is learning all of these things. He amazes me. We started doing arts and crafts in the mornings. He was really into Halloween themed activities so I figured I would continue his interest into the Thanksgiving themes. This week we made all kinds of turkeys with our hands including finger paints and construction paper cutouts.

He had a blast playing!

Rosy cheeks.

So cute!

He is also very sweet to his baby brother. The other day I watched him while I was washing dishes and Abel's blanket had fallen to the floor while he was in his swing. Jack was going toward him and at first I was prepared to tell him, "don't touch the baby!" thinking he might do something to him. Instead, I waited to see what he was going to do. He carefully stopped the swing long enough for him to replace the blanket on Abel's lap, and then he gave him a gentle push to get him going again. It was soooo sweet! It completely melted my heart. I am so proud of him sometimes!!!!

Aren't these leaves so pretty!?

Yay for the park!

My little model.

Today we decided to go downtown to Finlay park. Last time we went I was severely pregnant with Abel. This time was much more enjoyable for me. I had Abel tied up in the Moby wrap, but at least I could run around and play with Jack. I am so grateful that Abel his finally here and I don't have to be preggos anymore! Here are some pictures at the park. The leaves were falling, creating a gorgeous scene!!!

These two...crack me up!

Up in a tree!

Did not want to leave the park. He was pretty upset.

Yesterday Baby Abel turned 2 months old! Time seriously flies by with two kids. Here is a cute picture of him that I took in the backyard!

Abel William 2 months old!

Week 140

2011-11-11T20:13:00.002-05:00

Nov 2-8

November 3, 2011 = Happy 5 Year Wedding Anniversary to my wonderful Husband!!! Where has the time gone? It feels like our wedding was just yesterday and now we have two kids! I am so lucky to have you as my husband and also as the father to my children. You are the best!!!

November 3, 2006

Unfortunately, this year we did not get a chance to celebrate our anniversary because we were getting ready for Abel's big weekend. We had a lot of family coming in from out of town for the Baptism so we figured Saturday we should entertain and feed them. :)

We spent the days before the weekend preparing our menu, going grocery shopping, and doing any kind of prep work we could in order to make everything as easy as possible. It was really fun to organize our first "party" at our new house. We were so excited to have everyone over, we don't get much activity around here.

Hanging out in the kitchen.

Ed and Chuck!

Brothers!

Sisters!

We made tons of food, had plenty of beer, and I think everyone had a nice time. We celebrated Ed's graduation from college since we never really got to celebrate with family. Ed had no idea and it was fun to have a little surprise worked in. He definitely earned it. I am so proud of him for getting his bachelors degree.

Siblings taking a shot (I didn't participate b/c I don't think Abel would like liquored up milk!)

Ed's Surprise College Graduation Cake!

The next day was Sunday, the day of the Baptism. We are so blessed that all of our family came to church to witness Abel's first Sacrament of Initiation into the Catholic Church. Abel is lucky to be so new in this world and already have this many people who love him. Thank you to everyone who came. We appreciate each and every one of you. Here are some pictures from Abel's most important day.

Abel William Baptized November 2011

Jack Edward Baptized May 2009

These first two pictures are special because we took them in the same spot of each baby wearing the blessed gown that has been passed down to so many people in the family for over 80 years!!!

Abel's wonderful Godmother getting him dressed in the gown.

"Hmm...I've never worn shoes before."

He looks like a little baby cherub in this one.

Awww!

Precious little hat...courtesy of Ashleigh.

Aunt Caroline, Uncle Will, and Uncle Andy!

So happy with his Godparents!!!

Such a good baby, didn't even cry.

Yay!

Pap and May-May

Such a sweet little baby.

Our favorite cake...same cake we had at our wedding!

The beautiful cookies made by myself and Aunt Caroline!

The Godmother got him a second outfit. He looks so handsome!!!

Week 139

2011-11-09T10:59:00.002-05:00

Oct 26-Nov 1

Our last week of Halloween fun. :( I am pretty sad to see it go. I love Halloween decorations and themes. Jack has become obsessed with "spooky" things like ghosts and witches. He also suddenly will not sleep with his door closed...hmmm. I definitely feel like we made the most of the holiday. We watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," a few times, which is a must see. I definitely remember sitting down to watch it on TV as a kid. We love all the Charlie Brown holiday cartoons so we have the DVD box set.

Happy Halloween from the Storch Family!!

A nice picture of two little kids...impossible!

Let me quickly divert back to the beginning of the week. Ed (finally) had some of his fire fighter tests that are required as a part of the hiring process. On Monday he had a basic aptitude test. There were approximately 400+ people at the Coliseum to take this 100-question test. Ed said it was pretty much a joke and he feels like he might have missed 1 or 2. Apparently, pretty many people failed the test and were eliminated from the process (at least until next year). I'm not sure what the cut-off score is for "passing" this test, but Ed made it sound like it was pretty easy, so the ones who failed apparently aren't very bright. I wouldn't want that guy coming in to get me in a fire.

Jack actually posed and said"cheese!"

Once he found out that he passed, he was given another paper that told him to be at the training course on a certain day for the Agility Test. This test is conducted at the Academy and is pretty intense...even physically exhausting. The guys had 7 minutes to complete the test and it was composed of 5 events. First they had to complete a maze blindfolded, crawling through a small crawl space that would simulate being stuck in a small space and finding your way out. Then, they had to put on a 40 lb weight vest, helmet, and gloves, and carry 35-40 lb hose up to the fourth floor of a building. The next part of the test they have to hoist up 50 lbs of hose from the ground to the fourth floor. After that they have to run down the stairs to the outside of hte building and complete the keiser sled...click on link for further explanation of this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e76CRlikaeo). After the keiser sled they had to lift a "charged" fire hose 100 feet. Finally, they had to lift a 170 lb dummey and pull it 100 feet across a finish line. Apparently this is one of the most physically grueling tests that any fire academy has in the country. Most of them are much easier. Ed said that there were tons of guys who passed out, were throwing up, and who had to be transported by ambulance to the hospital. Some of these candidates are fire fighters in great shape, but this test is so physically exhausting that it is a challenge even for people who work out.

Cute little porker.

Love them.

Long story short...Ed passed all of his tests and is now waiting to interview with the Chiefs. I think there are quite a few interviews. We just have to wait for the call. This part is the hardest part of the process because you constantly wonder if they will call you...when they will call you. I have faith in him. He will make it through to the class in January. I know it sucks to wait for those phone calls though.

So now that we have lived here since July and have not worked, I am beginning to go insane. I cannot sit around the house all day. It was one thing when I was 9 months pregnant and felt like a big, fat blob. Baby Abel is now 6 weeks old and I am slowly starting to get back to normal. It is time to do some fun stuff! We were so busy in Florida. When I wasn't working we were going to the park, the zoo, the beach, the pool...always doing something. Obviously since we just moved here we don't know a whole lot of people so I decided to do some research online.

Jack eating lunch on his Busy Bees play date

There is this really neat website called meetup.com. It is basically a free site that facilitates different "interest" groups within a surrounding area. I checked out Columbia and typed in "moms groups" to find my new group called The Busy Bees. So cute! Once you apply and qualify for the group you are allowed access to their play calendar as well as the other members profiles. It is amazing. This particular group has over 100 members, so there is pretty much some type of activity each day. You check out the activities, RSVP, and then show up. You can even check out all of the other members who are going to see if there will be kids the same age as your kid. I have found that most of them have kids from birth-4 years old.

There are rules to keep people from just clicking on a bunch of things and not showing up. If you are a no-show more than 2 times you are kicked out. There are also certain rules about your kids...if they are consistently violent towards others or there are problems you can potentially be kicked out. I think it would have to be pretty bad in order for that to happen, all kids have their moments. So far I have gone to three events and found some really awesome people to chat with. Jack has had a BLAST!!!! I think he is so relieved to be out of the house. Just because he has a new brother, doesn't mean he has to be a prisoner in his own home.

Jack and Hailee at the "Balloons, Blues, and BBQ Festival"

The meetups vary from home play dates, to the zoo, to festivals in town. It is all very detailed and organized. I have already made some potentially awesome friends. I hope that when I go back to work I can continue to "meetup" with everyone on a consistent basis. We went to one play date at a house and we went to one community event, where we ran into Jack's girlfriend Hailee. Of course he had to just hang out with her the whole time he was there. They are so cute!

The lovebirds holding hands.

At the end of the week we had Halloween and of course Trick-or-treating!!!! We always try to come up with unique costumes for Jack and this year we wanted to incorporate both of the kids into a "theme" since they are still so little and they will let us control what they wear. We decided that Jack would be a Steelers football player...and Abel would be the football. Hahaha! Poor Abel. Luckily Jack didn't take the idea literally and attempt to punt his baby brother. The Steelers costume was pretty easy but I had to hand make the football. I got some brown soft fabric for $2.50 (score!!!) and some white knit ribbon for $2.00. I already had a sewing machine and some dark thread so I was ready.

Getting Jack dressed.

Makeup

Abel is ready

One of the few pictures with his helmet.

Love this picture!

Holding his football brother.

He picked out this bag on his own...the "gween" one

Now I have only used my sewing machine one other time and that was for Jack's first birthday. I know that is pathetic and I REALLY want to do more sewing projects, but time is so hard to find these days. I will learn how to sew one day. So I was pretty nervous since I literally had to youtube video to figure out how to thread the machine, but it all came back to me. I think the costume worked out. It was definitely very basic, but you could tell what he was...and it was also very warm so it served its purpose.

Waiting patiently.

"Trick-Treat!!!!"

Daddy thinks he is so funny!

Holding the little football!

Poor Hope had to wear her costume too.

We decided to go to Grandma's (Ed's mom) house for trick-or-treating this year. We don't really know any of our neighbors and of course Grandma wanted to see the kids in their costumes so we thought it would be fun. Everyone LOVED the boys in their costumes. Jack really got into it this year and was literally sprinting from one house to the other to fill up his bag with candy. He would ring the doorbell and when the person opened the door he would say, "Trick-Treat!!!" They thought it was hilarious. There were lots of people who would give him his candy, then notice the baby in the football costume and give Jack even more candy "for his baby brother."

Enjoying his loot!

He got more candy then he knew what to do with. We still have lots of candy left over. Great incentive for when we need him to do something. Now that I have two kids, I am not above bribing children. :) As long as the technique is not used too often.

Week 138

2011-10-27T16:05:00.004-04:00

Oct 19-25

We had lots of fun this week! Now that I'm looking at all my pictures I'm realizing we had a busy week. It is definitely starting to feel more like October. The October I remember as a kid...not the Florida October (which feels like a regular person's June....haha). The leaves are starting to change, the air is becoming cool and crisp at night, and there are fun, fall activities to partake in. :)

Random: these first few pictures were taken by my sister Caroline!

One of the most important things I did this week was finally finish my application to transfer my nursing license from Florida to South Carolina. For all my nurse friends who have never had the pleasure of doing this, let me warn you. It is a PAIN IN THE @**!!! The application alone was 14 pages and it had many, many detailed steps to complete before I could turn it in.

I'm talking FBI checks, SLED checks, digital fingerprints, 2x2 passport photo, online verification using their program to verify that I carry a license in FL, a copy of everything from my birth certificate, to my social security card, to my nursing license. It took forever, but I FINALLY put it in the mail!!! Hopefully it was all done correctly because it cost $$$ hundreds of dollars and is non-refundable. Another thing I did was start applying for jobs. I haven't found a job yet that I feel is "perfect" yet, but I am applying because at this point I just need a job. I can continue looking in the next year or two for the one I really want.

Okay back to the more fun things of the week. We finally had a play date with Hailee. Let me explain. Ed has a friend from high school that he hasn't hung out with in a long time. He has a daughter who is close in age to Jack. She is super cute and we have kept up with her through Facebook for the past few years. We have always said she and Jack should meet. Well they did and it was love at first sight! Jack had a blast with her. At one point she went to the bathroom and he started crying saying, "I want my Hay-hee!" So cute!

We definitely need to get those two together again.

For the weekend we headed up to Sumter on Saturday to Grandma's house (Ed's mom). We brought Hope with us so she could play with Ed's moms dog, Scarlet. Jack started playing this new game where he pretends he is a doggie. He crawls around on all fours and begs for treats. If you don't play along he gets annoyed. It is pretty hilarious. At least he is using his imagination.

Our plan was to check out this Farm that had a real pumpkin patch along with all kinds of activities for kids. Well when we got there they were closed for a "private party" so it was kind of a bust. They re-opened on Sunday at noon so we decided we would go the next day. Jack started getting upset when we turned around so we quickly decided on a Plan B and took him to a local church in Sumter that sold pumpkins. We told him that was the pumpkin patch that we had been talking about all morning and he didn't seem to notice the difference.

We let him play in the pumpkin patch and run around for a little while. He kept insisting that he wanted a "little pumpkin" so that is what we got him. Ed picked out a big pumpkin to carve for his moms front porch. We got some cute pictures of the boys. We definitely realize how much harder it is to get a picture of four people. Nearly impossible.

When we got home we carved our pumpkins. Jack actually decorated his with a kit that Cindy had bought for him. He had a blast. It was so cute how serious he was in executing the task of decorating his beloved "little pumpkin." When Ed was gutting the big pumpkin he kept trying to get Jack to help him. Jack was grossed out by the slimy insides of the pumpkin so Ed kept putting it on his arm. It was hilarious because Jack would get so mad that Daddy interrupted his little pumpkin time.

Abel just chilled in the background and watched from the arms of whoever was holding him. Maybe next year he will be more excited about Halloween.

The next day we headed back out to the farm to check out all of the fun. Jack went straight for all of the fun things they had for kids to play on. There was a huge bounce thing to jump on, wooden tractors to climb on, and a gigantic dirt hill with tube slides. We let him wear off some energy and then we rode the big tractor out to the corn maze. Talk about hilarious! Me, Ed, his mom, Abel, and Jack all wandering through a corn maze to try and find check points with clues to solve a crime. Since it is so late in the season the corn was pretty much dead and so it was easier to see through the path to the check points. Thank goodness, because we would have been LOST! :) It was fun walking around.

We were pretty hungry after the maze so we decided to go into the little shop for some lunch. They had all kinds of goodies and served the cokes in glass bottles, which was a nice touch. After my cheeseburger I had a homemade pumpkin milkshake...yummy!!!

That night we watched the Steelers game and drove two sleepy kids home. Jack went straight to bed in his Steelers jersey since he was fast asleep and wouldn't let me take it off. It was a lovely family weekend.

Week 137

2011-10-21T09:45:00.000-04:00

Oct 12-18

We went to the South Carolina State Fair! This year it is free for military and since we had our military ID cards for a few more days we figured it was a great idea. Who doesn't love fair food? We picked a day in the middle of the week and got there in the morning right as they opened. It was a little bit overcast, but nice because there wasn't a huge crowd. Now that we have two kids, we really try to avoid a crowd. There is nothing worse then trying to keep a 2 year old happy while waiting in line.

This was one of our first big outings as a 4 person family. Luckily we had an extra set of hands. Uncle Ryan (Ed's brother) came along with us. We figured we would get there in the morning (this is when 2 year olds are in a good mood), walk around and look at the animals, ride some rides, and then indulge in some delicious fair food for lunch. All in all, a great plan for the day.

We got there and scoped out where everything was. Most of the "little kid" rides were grouped together and the minimum height to ride on most of them was 36". Jack measured in at around 39". The next height for some of the rides was 42" so hopefully he will be there next year. There was still plenty for him to do.

We walked through quite a few buildings to look at animals. There were cows, pigs, goats, sheep, and tons of chickens. We also saw an elephant and a camel behind the tents. Personally, I'm not a big fan of animals at the fair. It seems kind of cruel to tie them so they can just stand there for people to look at them. Worse than the zoo...at least at the zoo they have a little bit of space to move around. Oh well. Jack loved it. He fed the goats and made some fast friends.

The rides were pretty neat. He went crazy for the fire truck. The motorcycle was funny because it kind of went up and down like there were hills and he looked like Evil Knievel or something. Every ride he went on alone he took very seriously. It was adorable.

There was this one "fun house" type thing you could walk through. I had to go with him. There were noises, distorted mirrors, moving floors, etc. At the very end there was this cylindrical piece that moved in a circle. In order to get out of the house you had to walk across it. Well Jack didn't realize initially what it was doing so he decided at first to just walk right on it. Of course it started moving him up and then he slid down toward the bottom. He freaked out and jumped back out onto me. I had to push him to go to the other side. I would have carried him, but I already had the baby on me and couldn't risk it. His face was priceless and I was laughing hysterically. Such a mean mommy. I couldn't help myself.

Uncle Ryan, Ed and Jack played one fair game. The good old shoot the water at the target. Of course since they were the only ones playing someone automatically won a prize. We got Jack a big fluffy monster type stuffed animal thing. I love how intense Ryan and Ed are while they are playing. Competitive much? Jack thought it was fun so that's all that matters.

After all the games, animals, and walking around it was finally time for lunch. Mmm...FAIR FOOD! My favorite part! Apparently there were these amazing corn dogs at this one particular stand. Well Jack loves corn dogs so we had to try them out. They were SO GOOD!! Huge! Jack loved it. Ed was on the hunt for an Elephant Ear (better known as a funnel cake). He found one and it was awesome as well. Jack and I split a strawberry shortcake for our dessert. Yum, yum, yum!

I think the last picture of Jack at the fair with food all over his shirt and face pretty much sums up the end of the day. We had a great time and will definitely check it out again next year! Sadly once we got home Daddy had to leave for his trip to Pittsburgh. It would be my first time alone with the boys without Ed's help. We had planned on Jack staying with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Amanda, but Amanda was coming down with a bad cold and didn't want to get Jack sick. Lucky for me Aunt Caroline was on fall break from Clemson and came down to stay with us so I had a ton of help.

I really wanted to get Jack's fire fighter room put together. I had been collecting all of the stuff for the past year and couldn't wait to decorate! I waited until we moved when he got a big boy bed. Caroline helped a TON! We had to paint tables and chairs, shelves, and his 'JACK' letters. Then we had to put everything up on the wall, make the bed, organize everything. Doesn't seem like a whole lot of work but when you have the day already filled with feeding, diapering, bathing, and entertaining two children your slate is pretty much full.

This particular weekend we also baked Halloween cookies. Caroline has witnessed my neurotic cookie making tendencies before. She helped me make the cookies for Jack's 2nd birthday party (appropriately fire fighter themed...haha). I'm surprised she was up for the challenge knowing what a perfectionist I am. She is a lot like me in the fact that she likes to do creative things and she likes to bake too. :)

We actually got in a little over our heads. Originally there was going to be 3 cookies: a pumpkin, ghost, and bat. Well I got a new box of cookie cutters to add to my collection. 101 new cookie cutters. We ended up making pumpkins, ghosts, bats, witches, haunted houses, candy corn, and black cats! Simple cookie decorating turned into two nights of hard work with hours of frosting coloring and decorating. Haha! It was so worth it though, because they looked AMAZING!

All in all the whole weekend was a success. We spent lots of time playing with the boys. Here is a picture of Jack doing his "ABC's" puzzle. It was great spending time with my little sister. :)

Week 136

2011-10-14T14:24:00.002-04:00

Oct 5-11

I thought it would be fun to put a couple of comparison pictures of Jack and Abel. They look similar in some ways, but very different in other ways. I think they look like brothers, but they have their own unique traits. I can't wait to see what Abel will look like when he gets a little older.

So one morning this week we decided that we were sick of being cooped up in the house. We decided to go and get some fresh air. We drove to a local state park called Sesqui-Centennial. It was a beautiful day with cool, crisp, fresh air. There was tons of stuff for us to do. I wrapped up Abel and he pretty much slept the whole time. First we walked around and checked everything out. There was this old log cabin from the 1700's that had been moved from a remote location to the park. It was taken down log by log and rebuilt on site. Pretty cool.

There was also a huge park that Jack could play on. There were some other kids he hung out with for a little bit. He had a blast. After I fed Abel we decided to hike the trail around the lake. It was a little over 2 miles but we didn't care. Jack was a trooper and loved walking through the woods. We sang songs, pointed out birds, and enjoyed the sunshine. Fall was in the air and the leaves had just started changing. It was beautiful.

Jack and Abel looked super cute in their Halloween shirts. :) Here are some pictures.

Jack continues to be a good big brother. Abel is really starting to get big!

Week 135

2011-10-08T17:49:00.001-04:00

Sept 28-Oct 4

Our second week with Baby Abel has gone very well. Ed is on terminal leave and obviously I'm not working right now so we have both been home to enjoy some quiet family time. For the most part we have stayed in the house except for a couple of small outings. I think we are getting used to the zombie like state of new parents. We are still woken up throughout the night when Abel is hungry, but it's really not so bad. We find time to get a little sleep in.

Abel's little umbilical cord stump fell off so we are able to give him a "submerged" bath now. He has a cute little "innie." I love little baby baths. They smell so nice when they get out and you dress them in their pajamas. It just makes you want to smell their little heads and snuggle them. Abel really seems to enjoy a nice warm bath. Here is a picture of big brother Jack helping get his bath ready. So cute!

When we were at the hospital they had shirts in the gift shop that said "big brother" and "little brother." We put them on the boys to get some pictures and they turned out super cute. Abel didn't want to cooperate at first, but he got into it. Jack is so cute with him. He always kisses his head and wants to know where he is at all times.

Most of these pictures are just of us around the house. This week my Grandma (or as Jack and Abel call her, 'Gigi') came down to visit and meet her newest Great Grandson. Aunt Caroline also came down from Clemson to see Grandma and the baby since she only got to actually see the baby for a few hours when he first came home.

On Monday Abel had his 2 week checkup. He is still exclusively breast fed and continues to eat at a phenomenal pace. He weighed in at 10 lbs 12 oz. and had grown over 1/2 an inch already. The pediatrician said he is 95th percentile for his weight and 90th percentile for his height. So far taking after his big brother. Jack is usually on the upper side of the charts for height and weight. Currently he is off the charts for his height. We are going to have some big boys when they get older!!!

Week 134

2011-10-06T13:30:00.003-04:00

Sept 21-27

**editors note: I am writing this after severe sleep deprivation. hopefully it makes sense**

Ahh...sweet baby bliss. So far life with a newborn (part 2) is going pretty well. I have to say, it is not easy to be responsible for feeding Abel. I don't remember Jack eating as often/as much as Abel seems to. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind it at all, but it is exhausting getting up every 2-3 hours at night to feed a little baby (who eats for 30+ minutes at a time). Thank goodness I have Ed and my mom here to help out with things. Ed pretty much gets up with Jack every morning. Jack seems to suddenly have his times mixed up because he has started waking up earlier and earlier. He's up to around 6:15 now...when he normally gets up around 7:00. I'm hoping when we "fall back" with the time change, he will get right back on schedule. Mimi (my mom) helps clean up and has been doing all of the laundry, which is awesome because I HATE doing laundry!

These are some of the shots I took in the attempt to get the great shot you see at the top of the blog.

We pretty much go through our days like clockwork. Get up, feed babies, change diapers, play with Jack, feed the baby, feed Jack lunch, nap time for everyone, play, eat dinner, baths, bed. It is like groundhog day around here, but I know that soon it will get better. Sometimes I just want things to "get back to normal," but that is when I tell myself to just kick back and enjoy this time. He will not be this little for very long!

Hard to give photography directions to a 2 year old.

So far Jack is an awesome big brother. He helps out, gets diapers, throws things in the trash, helps make meals, unload the dishwasher, etc. He hasn't shown any direct defiance towards the baby yet, but in general we have noticed him acting out a little. He has definitely started pushing his boundaries, earning himself a few extra time outs here and there. I'm not sure if it is baby brother, or just becoming a 2 1/2 year old. Overall though, he is well behaved and a good kid (as long as he gets his sleep).

He wanted to pretend like he was sleeping too. Haha!

I am slowly recovering from giving birth. Not as fast as I would like. I am the worst "patient" ever. I'm supposed to "take it easy, not lift things, get sleep." Umm...yeah right. Have you met me? I don't do any of those things. I am trying my best to do these things, but I just don't want to, especially after finally being free from pregnancy. Now I just want to start getting back into shape, exercise, lose all of this weight, and feel good about myself again. I can't squeeze my big butt into any of my clothes except maternity ones. It's so gross. I wish that when you went through all of the torture of pregnancy for so long...once you had the baby all the weight would magically disappear. It would be awesome. Oh well. I guess I have to take it one day at a time. All the books say to give yourself anywhere between 10 months-1 year. That seems like a lot. I will start working out soon, at least now I can start planning on what exercises I will be doing.

Love these pajamas! They are size "newborn" so they will probably only fit for another week or so.

Sweet, sweet little boy.

On a fun note, now that we finally live in a non-tropical climate we can look forward to having weather changes. Seasons. Oh how I have missed fall. I love this time of year. We were so excited we went ahead and got all of our Halloween decorations out. Well not all of them. We decided to just decorate the inside of the house this year. After the big move I just didn't feel like hauling out all of the stuff.

We still have so much stuff piled in our garage and even a few boxes and things that we haven't really unpacked. I just didn't have the energy and neither did Ed. I think our indoor decorations are fun though. Jack loves it. At night we have orange lights on our trees and around the mirror with the spider webs. He says it's "spooky," that seems to be his new favorite word. I have been happily enjoying Dunkin' Donuts Pumpkin coffee and also Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. So yummy! I am not ashamed to say that I have driven 30 minutes to DD's to get one of these coffees. Yeppers. They are that good!

Thanks for visiting! :) Sorry so behind, will try to do better!

Week 133

2011-09-25T14:06:00.003-04:00

Sept 14-20

The Story of Abel

Abel William Storch was born Wednesday, September 14th at 5:35 pm. 8 lbs 15.8 oz, 20.5". The morning of September 13th we had our 39 week appointment. One more ultrasound was scheduled to determine just how big this baby was going to be. Some of the measurements were off the chart and the guesstimated weight was 9 lb 5 oz. After the ultrasound we had our appointment with Dr Browne and discussed our options with him. I was 4 cm, 75% effaced, and -1 station with some fairly consistent contractions. Based on all of this information we decided to go ahead and move the induction up to the 14th (originally it was to be on my due date the 19th). We figured our chances of having a vaginal delivery as opposed to a c-section would be greater if the baby wasn't able to get any bigger. We also kind of banked on the fact that I was already "in labor" technically and figured that a little Pitocin would go a long way.

We went home for one last night of uninterrupted sleep.

The next morning we woke up super early, before the sun even came up. We were both so excited that we got up way before we really needed to leave for the hospital. We showered and made sure we had everything we needed. Our bags were already lined up by the front door. On the drive to the hospital I was nervous and excited. For those of you who aren't familiar with Jack's birth story...he was late, I got an epidural, my blood pressure bottomed out almost to nothing, I was superclose to having a C-section because I wasn't progressing, I finally delivered him after 14+ hours of labor and 1.5 hours of pushing. After a few hours his blood sugar bottomed out to the 20's (really bad) and he was rushed to the NICU. Long story short, after much agony he ended up staying 4 days in the NICU and was put on a sugar water IV drip until his blood sugars evened out. It was a horrible experience, very stressful.

I wanted anything to avoid this again so this time around I was very meticulous and kept my blood sugars in check. I checked them up to 8 times a day and ate a very strict diet of super low carbs and pretty much no added sugar. It was torture, but well worth avoiding a potential stay in the NICU.Okay back to my story. We arrived at the hospital and checked in. They drew labs, started my iv, hooked me up to the monitor. The usual stuff. My blood pressure was already low. At one point it ready 90's/50's. I was thinking..."oh great, here we go." My goal was to avoid the epidural as I think that is where all of my problems started the last time. Pitocin was started right away and then the plan was to up it until I had good strong contractions. Well I was doing fine all morning, into lunch, into the afternoon. I was allowed to have a clear liquid diet so my nurse gave me jello, broth, and drinks. I was having consistent contractions, but they really weren't bothering me.

After lunch the doctor checked me and I was still at 4 cm. A little frustrating to say the least. The doctor broke my water. I was allowed to sit in a rocking chair (while still on all monitors and stupid Pitocin) and rock. This made me much happier then sitting in the bed. That thing is NOT comfortable after awhile. I really wanted to walk around, but while you are on Pitocin you have to stay on the monitor. Whatever.

Around 4:30 or so the doctor rechecked me and I had progressed to 6 cm. The contractions were still feeling about the same. Now they were about 1-2 minutes apart. I could tell when they happened, but they were tolerable and I was able to easily breathe through them. I was happy with the progress. I still wasn't requiring an epidural, but went ahead and accepted some Nubain (an IV pain medication). It made me super relaxed and sleepy I pretty much started to dose off when...suddenly...after about 30 minutes my pain went from tolerable to completely off the chart and out of control.

With every contraction my pain was ridiculous. They started coming really quickly. I felt the need to push, but I thought I was a little crazy because I was just checked and was at 6 cm. My nurse went to go get more Nubain. I kind of thought that was a little crazy because I felt like I was having this baby, but what do I know? After she left the room I looked at Ed and told him I had to go to the bathroom. Poor guy. I was still hooked up to everything. Luckily he took me seriously and we both proceeded to start ripping things off of me so I could get to the bathroom. For those of you who don't know...when you feel the urge to push it is basically the same muscles as when you have a bowel movement. Not to be gross, but this was how I felt. Like I had to push out a big poop. I made it to the bathroom and with my contractions I was pushing...and SCREAMING...and pushing.

I felt like the exorcist. The pain was so bad that I was yelling, crying, swearing. Then when the contraction would finally stop I would just go, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." I guess my screaming got the attention of someone who knows what they are doing because as the nurse was still getting pain medicine the doctor ran in and saw us in the bathroom. She said she could tell by the way I was screaming something was happening. She got gloves and reached down to check me (as I'm still on the toilet screaming with each contraction). She looked at Ed and said, "She doesn't have to go to the bathroom...the baby is coming, right now."

She looked at me and asked me if I was more comfortable in a squatting/standing position. I frantically nodded my head yes as I was screaming mid-contraction. Everyone was a little overwhelmed and running around aimlessly. No one anticipated I was going to have a baby anytime soon. The doctor was a fourth year resident and she was really nice. She got ready to potentially deliver the baby in the bathroom. In the meantime she told the nurses to get the squat bar ready just in case. She and Ed helped me through a couple more contractions and when the squat bar was in place she asked me if I thought I could walk back to the bed. I was like, "whatever I need to do to get this baby out."

Between contractions we managed to get back to the bed and I squatted, pushed with every contraction, and Abel came shooting out within about 10 minutes of good, hard pushing. I was so relieved. The pain relief from Nubain was long gone during the end stage of labor, but it was well worth it in the end when he came out without stalling labor like last time. Besides, when you see that baby's little face your pain melts away. The only bad thing about the way he came out so quickly is that he ripped me a new one. It took the good doctor about 45 minutes to stitch me up. Oh well.

I went ahead and breastfed immediately and he latched right on (score!). I knew this would be important to get us through our next challenge...keeping his blood sugars up. I was so petrified that he would go to the NICU like Jack that I breastfed him every 2 hours nonstop through the night in order to avoid a long hospital stay. We had chosen the "couplet care" where the baby stays in the room as opposed to the nursery. The hospital and nurses were very supportive of our decision, but he had to be taken to the nursery every 3 hours x 12 hours for heel sticks to test his blood sugar. If he failed even one he would go to the NICU.

Ed and I had been through this before so we knew we were in for a long night. As exhausted as we both were we made sure to stay up and feed him practically around the clock. I have no idea how much sleep we got the first night, but it wasn't much. We didn't care though. We were running off adrenaline. This baby was so cute and so sweet and we spent that night just soaking it all in. As the night went by we passed the first test, then the second, then the third, the final test was early in the morning and when the nurse brought him back she had a smile on her face. We were in the clear. If the baby passes the tests through the night then you are good, no more blood sugars. Yay! Even our nurse was super excited for us. Her name was Meagan and she was so sweet. She was rooting for Abel to pass so he could go home. She told us about how everyone in the nursery was talking about him and they all agreed he was super cute.

At that point everyone had also heard about how Abel had come into the world so quickly and unexpectedly. Apparently he was the popular birth story of the day. When the doctors made their rounds they had all heard about his birth. Everyone was super happy and we were so proud we had made it through the night. We figured we could relax and enjoy our baby. We would go home after one more night of being monitored in the hospital. We got some sleep, enjoyed some visitors, and just continued to bask in the wonderful newborn glory. We watched every move he made and marveled at how perfect he was. He didn't even have a cone head, which amazed us considering he was so big.

The second night we were told that in the morning they would draw some more blood. A bilirubin level. We didn't really think much of it. He wasn't yellow. Well the next morning the nurse came back and told us his level was pretty high. They would have to recheck it in 6 hours. If it didn't go down he would have to stay longer. WTH. We were going home, this number was just a fluke. Well then they rechecked it and it was higher. He was going to need lights right away they said.

I was crushed. Heartbroken.

After all the hard work of avoiding the NICU and worrying about his sugars...now we had a whole different issue. Why? Why? Why????? We had been down this road before. We pretty much knew we had earned ourselves some more days at the hospital. I was going to be discharged later that afternoon. Where would we go? At this point Abel was a champion breastfeeder and eating every 2-3 hours around the clock. He hadn't had any formula, he made it through the whole blood sugar thing without any supplementation. I wasn't giving up without a fight.

I knew enough about bilirubin levels to know that the best way to get the number down was to stimulate the gut and basically poop it out. The lights help break it down as well, but it is super important to stay hydrated and to poop, poop, poop. We live a good 30 minutes from the hospital so there was no way we could drive every 2 hours to feed him. I was seriously prepared to camp out in the waiting room or even pitch a tent on the lawn in front of the hospital. I'm not kidding.

Luckily they told us that even though they were full they could offer us a "courtesy stay" in a different room. We jumped at it. It was basically a room with a bathroom, bed, and chair that pulls out to a semi-cot thing but we didn't care. We were going to be there for our baby. Our schedule for the next 48 hours was as follows: walk to nursery, feed baby x 30 minutes, walk back to room, pump any extra milk x 20 minutes, sleep x 1 hour, wake up, repeat. By the second night we were exhausted. It was grueling. He had to be stuck in his little heel every 6 hours for blood. His levels were (very slowly) coming down. We had a few ups and downs. At one point he was on double lights, they started an IV and put him on fluids to flush his system, and we fed him every 2 hours.

FINALLY on Sunday after many tears, shear insomnia, blood draws, waiting, etc we got the news that we could go home, but with a bili-light. Abel had one last examination by the doctor and then we were going to be up for discharge. Well...he felt a little bump on his right clavicular area and ordered an x-ray. Great, what else will they find wrong with him?? The x-ray came back and it pretty clearly showed a fracture of the right clavicle. The nurse practitioner placed a call to the pediatric orthopedist. We held our breath waiting for more horrible news. Luckily he said we could come into the office the next day and get Abel checked out.

We got our discharge instructions from our nurse, waited for the bili light to be delivered, and got the baby dressed in real clothes. We were finally free from hospital prison! :) I cannot begin to describe how nice it was to be home. You don't realize how wonderful your own bed can be until you have to sleep in an uncomfortable, cold, loud hospital room for 4 nights.

On the way home we stopped at the store to get Jack some toys. We wanted him to be happy and excited when the baby came to live with him. He was waiting for us when we walked in the door. I missed him so much! In the 5 days we were gone we only got to see him a couple of times. I had been dreading this day for a long time. Let me explain. I of course had been excited about bringing the baby home, but the other part of me was dreading it. Of course I worry about Jack and how he will feel about not being the only child anymore. I worried that he would hate the baby and be mean to it. Lucky for me he really doesn't seem to mind having a baby around. Thank goodness!

In the next couple of days we had a few visitors, caught up on sleep, and enjoyed our little family. The bili lights actually only lasted one more night. The day after we got home from the hospital we followed up with the pediatrician, got a repeat bili, and also followed up with the orthopedic doctor. The bili level was okay, lights discontinued, and the orthopedic doctor said we just have to watch the clavicle and it should heal on its own. Abel had even gained some weight! Most babies initially lose weight and are expected to regain to their birth weight by 2 weeks of age. At 5 days old he weighed 9 lbs 1 oz!! Feeding around the clock had worked!!!

The rest of the week we basked in our new life. So far Baby Abel is an awesome newborn. :)

Week 132

2011-09-13T08:03:00.008-04:00

Sept 7-13

Since I just had a baby as you all know, I am behind on my blog despite trying desperately to keep it caught up. Therefore, I am back logging the contents of the past couple of weeks. I will refer to this week as the waiting game. Torture. The torture was actually multiplied by the fact that it was both Ed's and Mimi's birthdays. Don't get me wrong, birthdays are great except for when you are 39 weeks pregnant with gestational diabetes, hungry, bored, and cannot partake in devouring 2 delicious cakes that are sitting in your kitchen. Grrr. We kept thinking maybe the baby would be born on one of their birthdays.Mimi turned 51 on September 9th. I took her out to dinner at a new restaurant in Columbia called Virtu. It looked really cute and seemed to have a decent menu. I wouldn't really recommend it. We still had a nice time hanging out just the two of us.
Ed turned 32 on September 12th. The day before his birthday was the Steelers game so we celebrated at the house by having Uncle Ryan, Aunt Amanda, Grandma, and Uncle Andy over to watch football, eat burgers and dogs, open presents, and sing Happy Birthday. It was a nice family day. Still no baby.
By the end of this week I am 39 weeks so baby is definitely full term. I am now starting to fear how big baby will actually be. I have kept my sugars under control with this pregnancy and only gained 35 lbs (as opposed to 70+ lbs with Jack) so I felt like I did my part, but when we went to our weekly ultrasounds we are estimated to have a 9 lb 5 oz baby. Some of the measurements were actually off the chart. I am determined once again to not have a c-section so now I am starting to worry that going to my due date might not be a good idea. My doctor absolutely will not let me go past my due date so if I don't go into labor naturally then I will be induced on the 19th.Well the last day of this week was my 39 week appointment and I am actually at 4 cm and 75% effaced with -1 station. Hmmm. We decided to go for induction the next day and finally meet this baby. The birth story will be next week's post. :)

Week 131

2011-09-10T15:14:00.002-04:00

Aug 31-Sept 6

This week we decided to head to the beach on an impromptu mini vacation. I had my doctor's appointment on Tuesday and he said it would be fine to travel. Myrtle Beach is only about two and a half hours from Columbia and my doctor assured me that if there was an emergency, the hospitals in the area are phenomenal and I would be well taken care of. It made me a little nervous to travel at 38 weeks, but we figured it would be nice to relax and get away before the baby comes. Ed's parents have a beautiful condo in Myrtle with plenty of space and everything we could ever need.

These are the last weeks of Jack as an only child. So sad! I thought it would be nice for Jack to have the opportunity to get out and do more things. We have kind of been sitting around this house in the country since we moved here. He is so used to doing things all the time and it isn't fair to him to be cooped up. He has been asking about the beach since we moved. I don't think he quite understands that we moved from the beach and we can't just hop on our bikes and ride a block away to go play in the ocean. Poor thing. The condo has two pools, the beach, a water park, and everything else that's available in the area. Jack had a BLAST!

The first few nights and days it was just our family and Ed's mom (Grandma to Jack). We pretty much just chilled out and worked around Jack's schedule. Typically every morning we would go to the beach, pool, or maybe the water park. Jack would play, play, play and then we would come back up to the condo for lunch around 12:00. After lunch we would have quiet time/nap time. Jack would be so exhausted after playing all morning.

In the afternoon we would hang out, stick around the condo, and then get ready for dinner. One of the days we headed to Broadway at the Beach to walk around and let Jack ride some rides. They have a cute little amusement park called Carousel Park that is designed for little kids. When Ed went up to pay for the unlimited arm band the person at the ticket counter assured him that since Jack is only 2 years old he would be able to ride the rides with a parent. Well when we got up to some of the rides they said if you were over 36" you had to ride alone. Jack is off the chart for his height and was well over the minimum height so he had to ride alone. At first I was thinking "no way," but he held on tight and rode the rides.

Over the weekend Harvin drove up from Sumter and then Uncle Ryan and Auntie Amanda came up from Columbia. One of the days Jack got to go on Grandpa Harvin's "Big Boat!" I don't have any pictures of the boat because I couldn't go being so pregnant. Jack LOVED it! He talked about it all afternoon when he came home. Next time I will join everyone. We had a nice time with everyone who came up. Pretty much every night we went out to dinner and Jack behaved himself. Thank goodness he is such a mild mannered kid. I keep waiting for terrible two's to really kick in, but he is very good 95% of the time. Every now and then he gets his little attitudes and requires a time out, but for the most part I can't complain.

One of the days we went to the Ripley's Aquarium. Initially it seemed too expensive, but when we got there we found out they have a military discount. It was almost 75% off! Thank goodness, because once we got in there and checked everything out we realized it was only worth the discounted price. I would have been disappointed if we had paid full price. Jack was a little cranky and not in the best mood so we were only there for about an hour. That was really as long as it took to see everything anyway. One of those things we can cross off the list, but I don't think we would go again.

At the end of our mini vacation we got the chance to meet up with some of my friends from college. Ashley, Emily, and I were in Air Force ROTC together at Clemson. It was so neat to see them because I haven't seen them since graduation over 5 years ago. None of us had kids or anything and now between the 3 of us we have (almost) 5 kids. Craziness!! :) It was so much fun. Jack got to play with Emily's 2 year old daughter Lucy. They had a blast together. Over the weekend it was Lucy's birthday so Jack brought her a present. It is so fun to buy a "girl" present since I am so used to picking out trucks or trains.

The last picture is of the ride home. We all came back refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to have a baby. I had my doctors appointment the afternoon we got home and there was a little bit of progress. I am now 3 cm, 75% effaced, and -1 station. Hopefully this baby will come soon!

Thank you to Harvin and Cindy for our mini vacation! We had a wonderful time!!!! :)

Week 130

2011-08-28T14:52:00.003-04:00

Aug 24-30

We had to go downtown last week to officially turn in Ed's application for the Columbia Fire Academy. It feels good to finally officially have it turned in. The rest is up to fate. :) I have every faith in Ed. While we were downtown we figured we should go check out Uncle Will's Fire Station. Jack had a blast! He always loves to see fire trucks. We got a few pictures while we were there.

After our visit we went out to Finlay Park so Jack could play for a bit. It's a big park in the middle of Columbia and I was pretty impressed with the structure. Jack could run around and there were multiple slides, climbing structures, etc. It was pretty shady and in good condition. Unfortunately, we have found that parks around here are nothing like in Florida. We could choose from 10 amazing parks within a 10-mile radius of our house. I definitely give Brevard County an A+ as far as parks go. Around here there are outdated, run down, gross parks that are few and far between. There is another prospective park on Ft Jackson that we plan on trying out soon.

Saturday Ed's parents treated us to an amazing dinner at The Mill Pond Steakhouse in Rembert, SC. If any of you live in this area it is worth the drive. The food is ridiculously good. They serve a cornbread that is phenomenal. I will continue to dream about that delicious dinner for a long time! :) Ed's brother and his wife Amanda also came out. It was a very nice, relaxing, enjoyable evening for all. Jack stayed back at the house and Mimi (my mom) was gracious enough to babysit him for the night.

By the time we got back to Ed's parents house in Sumter, opened presents, and ate delicious pudding cake, it was pretty late so Ed and I decided we would just stay overnight. Ed finally got his PS3 that he has been eyeing since it came out. We decided to go ahead and get Netflix and stream it through the PS3. You really can't beat the deal. After talking to a bunch of different people who have it, it really sounded like a great bargain for what you get.

Well that is pretty much the end of another great week in SC! I am trying to stay ahead with the blog so that when I do finally go into labor it won't be neglected for too long. Our next doctor's appointment is on Tuesday. Next weekend we are going to the beach for Labor Day. Stay tuned! :)