31 weeks pregnant

Helping with laundry

Jaden always finds the simplest ways to make me laugh. After putting all the laundry into the washing machine yesterday he ran off with the basket. After I got the load going I walked out of the laundry room only to find the basket turned over in the hallway. I noticed that he was underneath it. When I asked him what he was doing, he replied, "I'm hiding!" Of course! How could I have not seen that! I asked him if he could hide longer so that I could take a picture. He got really excited about this and enthusiastically agreed! He continued to play with the basket, getting out and putting himself back underneath it again, for quite a while all morning.

"...Like a Big Keg of Powder"

To say that Jaden still "blows our minds" isn't exactly correct. We've started to get used to him, almost daily, coming up with some new physical or mental feat that we just wouldn't expect from a boy his age or size. It would be correct, though, to say that Jaden still surprises us with what a boy his age/size can do, and it's definitely fun for us to talk (brag?) about.

Last night Jaden grabbed one of the waning helium balloons left over from a party earlier that day. He entertained himself, and us, for more than an hour straight watching it float slowly up and down, coming up with acrobatic games to play with it, and then kicking it in every imaginable way. Many of the kicks were prefaced by a line he took from the Dr. Seuss book Gerald McBoing-Boing (Speaking of which, now there's a fun book to read to your kid!), "Like a big keg of powder!" We recommend you grab the book to get the context of the comment, but the point is that Jaden really enjoyed setting off his own little explosions in our living room, and we really enjoyed watching him. We hope you enjoy a couple shots of the action too!

Summer BBQs...is there anything more fun?

Last night we had a BBQ at the Philipp's house. Boy do they know how to put on a party. We all brought different side dishes to share. As if dinner weren't enough, we played "the sign game," catch phrase, and even busted out a little Karaoke! It was a great night. We're lucky to have such great friends!

Can you guess what Jaden is saying?....CHEEEEEEEESE!!!

Jaden contemplating his next masterpiece!

Thanks Jules for taking these pics!

Morning Walking

This whole week I have been walking at 8 in the morning with some of my girl buds! They each push a double stroller, but it won't be long before I can join them with that! So far, I only do one lap around the neighborhood with them, but hopefully soon I will be able to do both laps. (Both laps is 3 miles!!!) My right shin sure has been hurting, but that pain will fade soon. It's kind of fun how it reminds me of my 4 hour workouts with gymnastics so many years ago, and coming home in so much pain, yet feeling so glad that I had accomplished something. I don't get anywhere near the same workout as I was with gymnastics, but I think it's great anyway. Not to mention having fun girl talk every morning! I love my girlfriends!

Girls Luncheon

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my girlfriends? This week we got together for a luncheon at Jules house. Everyone brought different things to share. It was so much fun and everything was delicious! Afterwards all the kids went outside to play on the slip'n'slide! Jaden didn't seem to want to slip or slide. He just wanted to drink the water. All the kids seemed to make their own fun in each of their own ways! And as you can see the mommies all loved watching their kids from the shade!

Jaden and IKEA

For the last couple weeks we've been introducing Jaden to interior decorating. The arrival of the IKEA catalog was a perfect addition to his already rigorous regimen. We've heard a couple friends and family might be looking for a second opinion on some of the ideas they've had for their own homes. Feel free to ask for Jaden's advice. We're sure he's happy to help.

Mel's New Doo

I've wanted to cut my hair (again) for quite some time. I finally did it! It's probably the shortest it has ever been, but it's also my favorite haircut I have ever had. What do you think?

How do you connect?

Over this past weekend we discovered yet another new 'difficulty' in the world of "blogs." Not everyone viewing our page can see what we see on our computer at home. Internet connection speeds are very different. With some, the videos and slide shows are practically impossible to download/view. We would like to continue posting videos (mostly of Jaden) but if no one can view them, it seems pointless. Long story short, if you wouldn't mind taking our poll and letting us know what internet connection speed you have that would be very helpful! Thanks for helping us out.

"I wanna say play soccer..."

The other night Jaden thought of yet another game. We had been playing with his soccer ball when all of a sudden he said "Let's do more kicks, fall down, and say Ha Ha." And over and over for at least a half hour wanted me to throw the ball at him so that he could fall down. Sometimes he even said "ha ha." Didn't know that something so silly could make us laugh so hard.

"Blogging"?

"Blogging"? I remember seeing an article a while back about the worst words to have been created by the internet revolution, and "blog" was on the list. I have since learned, that the word "blog" is a lot like Kielbasa: once you've had a taste you can't get enough, but no matter how you deliver it, using the word in conversation is always a little uncomfortable.

Needless to say, I'm part of the club now, and I'm really enjoying myself! For the most part I've been standing back watching Mel keep in touch with friends and doing a fantastic job of keeping them connected to our family. Until a couple days ago, my valuable input has consisted of thoughts like, "Yup, green's good," or, "no, don't use that picture, it's got my fat side." However, as I've jumped onto the "blog" (shudder) over the last week, and then taken links over to friends' blogs (I admit I spent most of the time enjoying the visual candy rather than the actual text. If my viewing habits were any sort of indication of the habits of those viewing our page, I guess I'll be lucky if somebody made it past the first paragraph) and just kept going from there, some of my old creative juices started flowing, and Mel let me start playing around a bit.

Inspired by these visual masterpieces, I've spent the last couple days making our blog seem a lot like myself trying to find my teenage hairstyle: changes in color, changes in size, changes in layout, and every time somebody looked away, when they came back there was something new. What can I say, trial and error has stayed the test of time. I've spent hours appreciating the simplicity of the blogger templates and cursing my unwillingness to just accept them. I've learned that it just isn't as simple as coming up with a neat looking title graphic, but you also have to format it properly right down the proper number of pixels. I am much more familiar with another wonderful term that just flows off the tongue: "HTML". The typical comment that comes from another experienced blogger about anything creative I have wanted to do is something like, "once you've come up with your idea, just go back and EDIT THE HTML." That's about as helpful as telling me to translate King Tut's tomb without the Rosetta Stone. However, it's been a lot of fun to try, and I'm really enjoying learning the ropes.

In time, our teenager hairdo blog is going to mature and finally find itself, but until then, I hope that you'll make comments about what you like and keep having fun with us. And if you made it this far in reading my post, you're my truest of fans. Thanks Mom!

Christian

Jaden Jumps

It seems that since we went to the Kangaroo Zoo, Jaden has wanted to jump off of everything more and more! His latest feat is to jump down the stairs and land on the lovesac. So far his max is 7 stairs. Will he go further? Will his mommy let him try from higher seems to be the bigger question. He is quite the little dare devil.

Prego Mel!

Well, there you go. For all of you that have been asking, now you can see my basketball tummy. Hope you enjoy it. Baby #2 is on his way!

Water Aerobics

So, I went to my 1st water aerobics class this week! Boy was it a workout! I continue to go to my Step Aerobics class once a week, but the weight lifting class on Mondays has gotten harder. I wanted to try something new and not just throw out my other workout. It was very interesting to be sweating, while in the water. But it was definitely a work out. I am so sore! Can't wait to do it again next week!