Groovy Baby!!!!!

One of the things I'm sooo happy I didn't miss because I had time off was my Uncle Barry and Aunt Cheryl's SURPRISE 60s theme 60th birthday party!!!

It took some coaxing to get Jas to dress up!!

My cousin Josh and his wife Amber.



My cousin Erinn and her husband Chris

My sister Rhonda and brother in law Robb

Needless to say, Jason enjoyed himself more as the evening went on!!


As did my cousin Josh!


haha- and Chris!!


Who knew Mt Dew, Tang and Vodka was a popular drink in the 60s??!!!


My Aunt Carol and Uncle Bernie

My mom's sister Carol, her brother Barry and my mom (who looks an awful lot like my grandma here!!!)

The K grandkids...Chris, Erinn, Josh, Amber, Shannon, Heather, Jas, me, Rhonda, Robb, Steve and Leslie (I should've gotten a better pic of Leslie's outfit- she found the best place for us to get our mod 60s dresses!!!)

Aunt Cheryl, Erinn, Heather, Shannon, and Uncle Barry (sorry Chris, didn't get one with you in it!!) Heather, Erinn and Shannon did a great job pulling off one heck of a party!!! Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Barry were shocked!!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Barry and Aunt Cheryl!!! It was a great time!!!

Wow...

I can't believe it's been 4 weeks since Jake was born!! Everything has been going so great and we're adjusting so well!!! Jake is such a good baby and Max is an amazing big brother!!

I do go back to work soon and that causes all kinds of thoughts and emotions. I'm eager to get back- I've been off soooo long. I know that my income helps our situation greatly and I am so thankful that in this economy I have a good job and can make a great income!! I'm also not looking forward to going back because I've been off soooo long!! It's truly a double edge sword. At the same time though- I know I have the best of both worlds. I get to be at home during the week with my boys and still work full time and contribute to our earnings.

I am also looking forward to being on a regular schedule- as unconventional as working nights can be!! I'm eager to see how we handle it and if we can get into the swing of things!! (which I'm sure we will).

I must say though- these last few months have been wonderful and super busy. We've had birthday parties, baby showers, wedding showers, and general family gatherings nearly every weekend!! I'm so thankful that the timing worked out so I didn't have to miss everything!!! That is the bummer about working nights.

I hope to blog more as I get into a groove. I have so much on my mind and it feels good to get it down in writing!! This is such an exciting time in our lives and I love being able to record it here!!! I'm learning so much too and I love sharing it!!!

Back to work....

No- not me- I still have a few more weeks. Jason's back to work today!! It makes me sad because we've had almost a month off together! We really do enjoy being together and it's been great spending these last 3 weeks with the boys!! And now that we've gotten a groove of whats going on- he goes back to work!! It may be a long day!! My mom is coming over after work so I'm not alone the entire 12 hours- so that's a plus!! I'm excited. I know I can handle it and I'm ready to take it on. Jas is eager to get back to work and we do need the money (I know I'll be ready to go back in a weird way when it's my turn).

The boys are doing great!!
Jake is 3 weeks old and the chair pic will be posted on their blog soon!!
Max is such a big boy. We finger painted yesterday with color wonder paints and he's wanting to read more and more books. Max had his 18 month appt yesterday and is officially done with shots!! Yay!! (at least until it's time for booster's for kindergarten).

I'm excited to get through today but know I'll be looking forward to Jason coming home after work tonight!!!

Max's favorite breakfast....

We're settling in as a family of four- figuring out things as we go!! Jason has been taking the late shift and I've been doing the early shift and practicing getting 2 boys up, fed, and dressed for the day by myself.

Since Max isn't enjoying being fed anymore I needed to find some easy breakfasts he could feed himself. I knew he liked pancakes- but this mama isn't together enough to make pancakes every morning!!! I found a recipe that I've tried and LOVE!!! We made another double batch yesterday for "brunch" and have a gallon freezer bag full to pop out and put in the microwave for 30 seconds!! Perfect!! I also microwave a couple fully cooked sausage patties and Max is happy as a clam!!!

Basic Pancake Recipe (I don't know where the recipe originally came from, I googled it- but I've also tweaked it!!!)

3 eggs
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat and 1/2 cup white)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 jars sweet potato baby food (I added just to amp up the nutrition a bit)

When using a half cup measuring cup to pour batter on griddle we got about 12 nice sized pancakes. Max usually eats 1 whole pancake for breakfast (sometimes 1.5!!).

I have found that if I cut half the pancake and put in on his tray first he'll eat that up, then I add the sausage and the rest of the pancake. My boy likes his meat and he'd pick out the sausage only if I'd let him!!!

I'm hoping to get more updates up this week with pictures of our Easter sunday trip to Jason's family farm!!

We also tried a new church on Easter. We really enjoyed it- Max didn't. It's gonna take a bit for him to get used to it- since I'd been on bedrest and so sick during the pregnancy we hadn't been to church in a while. We really REALLY love our home church- but my work schedule had changed times and driving a good 30-40 minutes to church just isn't feasable when I have to get back home and in bed and to work my 7pm. This new church is minutes from our home (just down the street). I have very high expectations because our home church is soooo amazing and has such a great children's ministry and pastor!! This new church measured up well!!! It was built by the same construction company and felt much like our original church did when we started attending it (before the addition). They have a very young staff and friendly congregation. We miss our original church very much- but realize that when we don't make it there because of distance and tiredness on my part (from work all night before) we're really not benefiting from it. So after much prayer we decided to start looking for churches closer to home. I'm not entirely sure- but I'm very hopeful that we have a match!!!

Jake is such a good baby- I'm almost afraid to say that and jinx it!!! We're getting into a groove and he's starting to show us a little of his personality!!! He sleeps well and loves to snuggle with mommy and daddy!! It's amazing what the 3 extra weeks inside me was able to do for him!! His neck control amazes us and we're so excited to see how awake he is in the afternoon. We had to wake Max up for nearly every feeding because all he wanted to do was sleep (he just shouldn't have been in the outside world yet!!!).

Again, I'll try to get more pictures up this week!! (or later today!!)

A family of four.....

We are a family of four now....Mommy, Daddy, Max and Jake

Max didn't like the hospital too well.

But he has grown up overnight in our eyes. He is such a big boy!!!

We are adjusting well to life as a family of four...it still feels crazy to say that and think that!! We've ventured out just a few times...to target and the grocery store. We take 2 carts!!! It's completely foreign and completely normal all at the same time!!!

Cousin Hodge came to visit over the weekend and we had some fun with the boys trying to do a photo shoot.

We took Jake to the doctor yesterday and Max stayed home with granny and papa. Max was so excited when Jake got home (he usually doesn't pay much attention to him unless he cries). Anyway- I thought it was a perfect picture moment (sorry, this one is posted on the boys blog too!!).

Life is crazy busy but we're getting along fine (funny, because we're not all that busy- there is just more stuff to do than blog). I hope to get the chair pic on the boys blog soon and my dear Mandi took some pictures of the boys yesterday and I can't stinking wait to see them. I will share more when I get them. Also- there is so much on my mind....there will be more posts soon....I promise!!!

No april fools joke!!!!

B is here!!!!!

I've set up a new blog for the boys.....here is B's first post.

Feel free to bookmark their blog..
http://the-e-kids.blogspot.com/


We are so blessed!!! I'll post more details as I get around to it!!!

Thanks for your prayers!!!