The Little Man

No time for words...hope this can tide you over for now.




He is so long and skinny

Getting ready to leave the hospital

A Happy Dad

I'm in LOVE!

I'm the Ghost that's Known as Casper (A Post by John)

Casper was born Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 10:05 pm. He weighs 8lbs 10 oz and is 21 and 3/4 inches long. I'm afraid this kid's already making me a softy. I usually think most newborn babies are less than cute, but I'm quite partial to this one. It's amazing to me how much I loved this kid the moment I saw him.

Thanks again to Kimi and Casey for the Casper beanie.

Despite very little sleep for over 30 hours LeeElle was a trooper and did a great job. It is amazing what she was able to do without ever letting on how much pain she was in. I on the otherhand improved my ability to count to 10 in sets of 4 every 3 minutes, which I have to say wore me out. By the end I was exhausted and was almost kicked out for trying to get my own epidural. After all of this LeeElle came out of it looking great.

Kerilynn and LeeElle post partum

Cohen (Casper's actual name) spent so much time in the womb that he started to grow facial hair. The goatee was a little too much so we had it shaved before we took any pictures.

How about you sideburns? This is how I knew he really was my son.

THE Last Pregnancy Picture

39 Weeks & 3 days

41 Weeks

Really, this is the last pregnancy picture. I'm heading to the hospital now.
Peace out!

Baby Showers & Blessings

We have been blessed to have so many amazing people in our life who loves us and spoil us. We have had 4 showers. A surprise mini-shower given by my sis-in-law over Thanksgiving, one back home in Anaheim, another here in El Segundo, and finally John's work had a Super Bowl party planned which really turned out to be a baby shower. We really appreciate everyone's generosity! Casper is already loved by the masses.

My sister Kerilynn hosted my shower back "home" and made these cute invitations.

A few days later my aunt and some wonderful friends gave me a shower in El Segundo. Here is the invite made by Amy

And some of our loot, in boxes and bags...

(There is more in the closet and garage)

now in piles

Here is Caper's little closet in our hall cupboard with his hang up clothes (up to 6 months)

We bought a dresser to hold Casper's clothes. It will serve a dual purpose, storage/diaper changing table. It is chalked full of clothes, spit rags, socks, beanies...you name it.

***warning it may get a little sappy here, I apologize in advance***

When I first found out I was pregnant I was happy but thought, "How the heck am I going to do this?" Being the oldest of 6 I was confident in my ability to sustain a child's life; I know how to feed, change, bathe them etc. But now I would be responsible for raising, teaching, and enriching their life. (concern #1)

Then I thought about our situation at the time (and currently), John is in law school working a few hours a week at a firm but I'm the bread winner. I work full time and have 3 different jobs; how were we going to afford a baby and all the expenses that accompany one and who would take care of it? (concern #2)

And lastly, well I'm sure there is more but for sake of being brief, was I ready to do this? (concern #3) I have always wanted to be a mom since...well since I can remember and now the opportunity was here- ahhhh!

With all these concerns I sought much comfort and help through prayer and other means. I was excited to be pregnant/having a baby but I was scared, nervous, apprehensive-you name it! Now, I have been blessed and I love how my life has turned out so far. I've been married to the most amazing guy for over 4 years, I'm in a profession I love at a job I enjoy, we have a great family and many friends; life is good. I would have never thought being pregnant/having a baby would be such a huge test of my faith but it has been. Yet through it all I have been comforted by a loving Heavenly Father who constantly reassures me that everything will work out, and it has. Julie Beck, general Relief Society President of my church, said this, "We don't have children because we have money, because we have means. We have children with faith." This has been my motto recently. When I have concerns and doubts I (or often John) reminds me to look back and see that the Lord has not forgotten us in the past and won't in the future.

There have been many times I've been reminded of this, one example is the generosity shown by those around us with their gifts and support. We have not have to buy much at all because we've been given so many things. Friends, my mom and sister's co-workers, and others have given us cribs, car seats, clothes, swings, pack'n'plays, baby carriers, and many other accessories alleviating some of the financial burden. Schedules have worked out so baby sitting will not be as much of a burden. My employers have been accommodating and supportive. John has a job to help with living costs....the list goes on and on.

This experience while definitely trying has been one of the best things for me. I have learned/been reminded that when I trust in the Lord and do what I know is right, things work out, not always the way we see it happening, but we're taken care of and blessed. I am gratefully overwhelmed by the love that the Lord has for us.

And They Say Babies Don't Come With Instructions

To Do List....

I love making lists! It keeps me organized and focused when it comes to what needs to be done. The only thing I love more than making lists is crossing items off of it. My maternity leave started last week and has been very productive. Here is my current to do list:

What May Be My Last Baby Casper Update

I am still very full with child. Now if I just knew how to make my photos go side by side to show the growth from beginning to end. maybe tomorrow.

35.75 weeks

contrary to popular belief I have dropped.

39 weeks and 3 days

Hello Again

I'm alive! I've just been busy. Some say I'm nesting. If that's the case then I've been nesting for over 26 years. I'm fairly organized and always doing something; the only difference is now that I've started maternity leave I have a little more time and fewer distractions (i.e. work).

Here's a quick and random update:

While running errands the other day I had to stop by Khols to return a few things. That's when I saw this baby...

I allowed myself this indulgence partly because it's so fun and was 70% off. This purse is so out of character for me; my purses are normally simple and black, but I love it!

Last Sunday John got in a fight with the door jam. John lost. As a results he dislocated his toe, which he then had to locate back in place. Poor guy couldn't even wear shoes so he was forced to wear flip flops (if you know John you know he only wears flip flops to the beach. period)

In other foot news, my awesome sister Kerilynn and her fiance surprised me last night by showing up to our apartment. Cory had a feeling that my water was going to break and I'd be all alone while John was at school and Kerilynn said that I could not deliver a baby without a pedicure.

notice my feet are not super swollen-woot woot!

One last shout out to Kerilynn. She came up last week and cut our hair. I love my new do. My sister is so talented

not the best picture but you get the idea

more posts to come. I've actually already got one scheduled and 1/2 way done with another. my apologies.

I Have a Bone To Pick with...

the letter W

You see it is pronounced double U, but clearly does not look like two U's.

uu or vv

UU or VV

I propose we either change the pronunciation to double V or we all need to stop making the peaks and valley's that have come to be known as the character in the English alphabet and start rounding the bottom edges.

Thank you for your time. We will now return you to your regular scheduled programming.

Hey You Guys

Don't worry Brooke, we all have one of these.

Thanks for sharing.

Poor Collin

Two weeks ago Collin came up to barrow some of my gear to go snow boarding. While he was on the mountain he caught an edge and broke his collar bone. For those of you familiar with this kind of injury you know that often the Dr. gives you a sling that you wear for a few weeks and it will heal itself. Not so in this case. Apparently Collin's collar bone broke in such a place that surgery was required.

He went in Sunday morning and is home now however the anesthesia did take a toll on his 80 lbs. body-poor thing.

WARNING: GRAPHIC PICTURES

the above mentioned collar bone

A closer look of the bone poking out.

Not Cool!

Here is Collin the night before the accident drinking some delicous chocolate milk at our house. Please take note of the ridiculous Santa hat in Laker colors and the Kleenex wadded up his nose to stop bleeding. My brother is a geek, lovable, but a geek nonetheless.

Happy healing CJ!

Casper at 35.75 Weeks

31.5 Weeks

35.75 weeks

Four weeks to go and I think all the possible space inside me has been used.

I no longer have any restrictions-yay! Which means I've been able to start exercising and moving my muscles.

The baby has been weighing in above average all along and at my ultrasound on Friday the Dr. said he was up to 7 lbs. He had gained 2 lbs. in three weeks! He is on track to be 9+ lbs.-no thank you. (**I know that these are just estimations and that often they are off, I'm hoping that is the case here.)

Funny story

With a big baby inside of me certain things have become slightly more difficult like bending over, putting on pants, socks, shoes, breathing etc.

A few weeks ago I was getting ready for work. John was still asleep when he abruptly sat up, the conversation went a bit like this.

John: "Are you OK?"

L: "I'm fine, just getting dressed for work, why?"

J: "You were breathing heavily."

L: "Yeah, I'm trying to put my shoes on."

Oh the joys.

Christmas Break Highlights

About mid December I had a pity party/break down because my house still had Thanksgiving decorations (put up by my mother while I was on complete bed rest) and was not decorated for Christmas (my favorite time of year) and we didn't have a Christmas tree and I was not able to remedy any of this because I was not allowed to lift anything (thank you partial bed rest), it was the end of my semester teaching, and John was in the middle of finals ending the most grueling semester yet. How was that for a whiny run on sentence.

I was slowly coming to terms with it then one night I got home from school at 10 pm, unlocked the door and rushed into the bathroom to relieve my ever shrinking bladder without turning any lights on. I then was doing work in my room for a while before I went back out to the living room. As I was pouring myself some water I noticed all the Thanksgiving decorations were down and there were boxes of Christmas decorations in the living room. I just about started crying. My dear husband had done all that for me during his finals. I really have an amazing man.

We did end up getting a tree for family night. Sadly it sat undecorated in the middle of our living room for a week. There was a teenage kid who gives the tree a fresh cut and ties it down to your car. We weren't sure if it is customary to tip them for this service, but we thought it was tip appropriate. Unfortunately we did not have any cash. Fortunately John did have two gift certificates to Cinnabon with which he tipped the lad with. I was cracking up the whole time. Honestly though Cinnabon is expensive, that's a good tip.

Then finally on Christmas Eve day I made a point to get the tree decorated. It makes me happy to just sit or lie in the living room with only the Christmas tree lights turned on.

The Curtis clan came and stayed with us for a day. We had a ton of fun just hanging out and running errands. You know friends are keepers when they're game for stopping by the P.O. and Target and....

We went to Candy Cane Lane (a street in town that blocks off all automobile traffic and each house puts on an extravagant light display. Santa is in his sleigh at the end of the street to take pictures with (for free) and he hands out small gifts)

I finished my first knitting project. I learned to knit while on bed rest, although I must confess, while I do have one scarf on needles waiting for me to finish it, this is one of those scarfs made on the plastic hooks where you loop the yarn then pull over. But hey, a scarf is a scarf.

I got new prescription sunglasses. It really pays to be bff with your optometrist.

And last but not least we got free coupons for a small Golden Spoon. We never get small, only mini's, and they had two delicious flavors; pumpkin pie and egg nog.