Jonah's 1st Grade Program

Cooper and I went to watch Jonah and the rest of the 1st graders preform a patriotic program for all the parents.  Note to self:  get there waaaayyy earlier than "on time."  We had to stand in the back, and it didn't help that Jonah was on the bottom row.  But we heard the whole thing, and my favorite thing about it, was that Jonah sang his little heart out.  He didn't crack a smile (a shy trait), but he sure sang, and that is a sign of a lot of growth for that boy!  Because our view was so lousy, this is the best picture I got...

It was a sweet program.  Afterward we went to his classroom to check out some of his work.

We were encouraged to take our kids home early, so we did that, and brought home the boatloads of papers and artwork from the year!  I still need to sort through it all!

To celebrate Jonah and his great work, I took him and Cooper over to one of our favorite little places to get ice cream.  They love to get "Superman" ice cream every time we go there.

Great job this year, Jonah!!!  We love you!

Surprise!

Top of head, and hands together

Back in March, we got a little surprise,...we're expecting a BABY.  It's been a rough pregnancy so far, but I'm starting to feel a bit more human lately.  It was a long 7 weeks of lying on the couch for most of the day, dry heaving a the thought of most food; and being overwhelmed with feelings of guilt for Cooper watching too much t.v., the laundry piling higher than ever, the house being neglected, dinners being less than healthy. and my own eating habits being totally against what I know is healthy and okay.  Since I've started to feel better, I'm slowly adding the good things back into my diet and luckily some of the bad stuff is starting to sound gross.

For my own sake of remembrance, here are some of the things I have loved or hated this pregnancy:

Loved:

Ham-which I normally like but try to stay away from so it's normally not a major temptation or craving

Bread-pretty much any kind

Potato soup-I just barely was able to indulge in this craving yesterday, but I have been dreaming of it a lot

Potato chips-What?! I don't even buy those normally, and so rarely eat them.  My kids have been loving that I have brought those home lately.  And add ranch dip to that, oh yeah!  So bad, but so yummy.

CA rolls-dipped in soy sauce, yes please.

Steak-didn't eat much of it, but certainly wanted it

Italian food- Sounds so good.  Even the thought of being in an Italian restaurant is enough to make me feel better.  

Japanese  food- I still haven't been able to go, but dream of it almost daily.

Watermelon

Hated:

Hamburger meat- makes me want to die.  The smell, the thought of it, everything.  Going to the baseball fields has been tough, smelling the burgers cooking...ugh.  Still want nothing to do with burgers, although I can handle taco bell ground beef in small amounts, if I don't think about it much while eating it.

Lettuce or any type of leafy greens- :( so sad.  I normally love salad and not wanting anything to do with it made me really bummed, knowing how vital it is to good health.  I couldn't even put greens in a smoothie, until about a week ago.  Today i bought romaine lettuce and the store, and I think I'm okay with it again..hoping!

French fries-as much as I've been loving potato chips, potato salad, and soup, I still want to throw up thinking about eating fries.  I guess that's a good thing.

Pretty much all food I had at my house-I was wishing I had endless money to cater to every craving I had, but that just wasn't the case, so nausea took over 99% of the time.

Chick Fil-A- I went there one day because it sounded so good.  I loved what I ate and by the next day, I wanted to never think of that place again.  It didn't make me sick, I just got nauseous thinking about it.  I can't even see the logo now without feeling ill.  Hope that goes away.

Anyway, we are all excited.  Like the title of this blog says, this came as a surprise.  In many ways, I didn't feel prepared, but news like this is hard to be upset about.  In fact, as unprepared as we are, a baby is the greatest blessing in the world, so we can't help but be happy. 

Baseball

Rich grew up playing baseball.  He has been waiting a long time to sign up the boys.  This year it worked out.  Julien wanted to play.  At the time, he was a lot more excited about football, but Rich assured him that he would like it.  By the time they got home from sign-ups and shopping for baseball clothes and equipment, Julien's excitement was escalating.  It only increased as time went on.  His new love is now baseball and his dream is to be a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals someday.  This year he was in machine pitch, which he was a little bummed about, but it was good for him.  At this age, they really just teach the kids the basics and they rotate them on playing different positions for the most part.  Julien was mostly put on 1st and 3rd base, shortstop, and he played catcher several times.  It was so fun to see him improve over the season.  He took the game pretty seriously and his passion was so cute to witness.  His team had a great season and took second place.  I'm too lazy tonight to break these groups of pictures up by game, and I did not take pics of each game, but here are some pics from his first season!  Go Pirates! 


The smallest member of his fan club.

First practice