A day in the life...

Need Prayer...and LOTS of it

2009-05-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to take a brief moment and ask each of you to pray for me. Due to circumstances and all involved, I can't be totally open and honest with what is going on. But I can say that I am just going through some trials right now. I need the strength to persevere, and wisdom to handle whatever comes my way. Thanks girls! I appreciate it more than you know!!!

Playing Catch-Up...again

2009-04-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

Well, once again I find myself behind the 8-ball with my blog...so much to catch up on! Here are some highlights:

Jaelyn turned 5! She's been begging to get her ears pierced for over a year now. I gotta say, I thought it might be a passing craze, so I would pinch her ears so she would know what it felt like. But she never changed her mind, so we took her on her birthday to get it done. She was such a trooper and didn't cry at all!

She wanted to have her party at Bounce U, which was a BLAST! After bouncing, we went to Friendly's for ice cream cake...it was such a great night!

We also FINALLY painted the girls room! It took me forever to decide exactly what I wanted and what color...and on and on :) So, we picked a weekend and dedicated it to finishing it...and the girls LOVE it!

We have since hung curtain panels on either side of the closet that can be easily closed by the girls. We used to have bifold doors and they were kind of heavy for the girls to move. I kind of thought the curtains would also help soften the room up a little bit since they only have one window.Lots of storage for lots of toys!!We are still working on getting stuff on the walls, and I am in search of a white mirror (i'm thinking round??) I did get 2 accent lamps to use with the pink lamp shades to put on either side of the dresser. We're gettin' there... :) I'm open to any fun suggestions...:)

Happy Valentines Day...a little early:)

2009-02-09T09:19:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to get their annual Valentines picture to hand out to family...

and then we got one of just Zane:
All the girls got a Valentine pic of them dressed up as cupid and I was hoping to get one of Zane in the same get up (Jared was not at all thrilled about this)...but, lucky him, picture people no longer has the cupid get up so we settled for the "I Love You" heart:)

The Cutest Pink Eyed Boy...

2009-01-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

Zane had his 6 month check up today...he weighs 14 lbs. 11.4 oz and is 25 1/4" long. That was the fun part of the visit...the not fun part was finding out the poor kid has a sore throat, double ear infection and pink eye in both eyes. And he got immunized on top of that! Our hearts ache for the little guy b/c he must feel so miserable! Hopefully he will be on the mend soon...

Happy Half Birthday!

2009-01-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

To our litte Zane...who's not so little anymore...and is 6 months today! Where has the time gone?!? Zane is now sitting up practically by himself, trying desperately to blow raspberries, and eating rice cereal! One thing I have not slacked on is taking his monthly block picture...so here's his 6 month:

And then after sitting so nicely...this is what any baby would do when you put blocks in front of themAnd I couldn't resist this one...I LOVE Zane's eyes and I'm pretty convinced they will stay blue...my fingers are crossed anyway!Happy Half Birthday sweet boy! We love you sooooo much!

Playing Catch-Up

2009-01-06T13:39:00.000-08:00

Seems to be the story of my life these days! Yes, I know...I've been totally absent from the blogging world...not on purpose but somehow, time just gets away from me! I had all these great posts in mind but putting them off for another day turned into another week which turned into another...well, you get the idea. But to quickly recap...our fall literally FLEW by I think! Once school started...it was onto Halloween...onto Thanksgiving...and then onto Christmas! Our Thanksgiving was spent in Missouri with family we hadn't seen in almost 2 years. It was a very looonnnnggg drive out there but we had so much fun once we were there. I would say I'd post pics but in reality, I prob won't get around to it:)

We had a great Christmas this year, all the kids were really into it. Some of the highlights were going to pick out our tree, making our traditional reindeer food (and of course the mess that goes along with it:)), Christmas jammies, and waking up at 4:30 a.m....yes that's right 4:30 a.m. This year I FINALLY convinced Jared to sleep in and let the girls wake us up b/c we all know they are early risers anyway...and what do they do? It was fun anyway...we did stockings until Zane woke up and then did everything else. Here's some fun Christmas pics...and a few of my favorites:)

In their jammies anxiousely awaiting "Santa"

We have no boy toys so Zane had to have this toolbox...which he LOVES!

This is what getting up at 4:30 will do to you:) Side note, this was just minutes before Taegan promptly sat up and got sick all over my poor Mom, not fun...not fun at all!

I am now vowing that I will no longer go months without blogging...but I may need a nudge every now and then:) I do love to do it, and I think it will be beneficial in the long run when I go back to scrapbook...but ya know.......that whole time thing, gets me every time:)

Zane's Bumbo Experience...

2008-09-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

We recently got out the Bumbo seat for Zane...and after a few minutes in it, this is how we found him:

Our Big Little Man

2008-09-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Zane had his 2 month check-up today...he weighed in at 11 pounds 7.5 ounces and measured 23 1/4" long! We are praising God for a wonderfully healthy little boy!

Firsts...

2008-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

I love to keep track of all of thge "firsts" for the girls...and Zane, (Okay, must take a slight side trip here...it's so hard not being able to just say "girls" anymore!) Anyway, Kaesyn had a first yesterday...her first haircut! She did great! Joyce just trimmed it up a little bit...nothing major:) And as I'm posting this, I realize I didn't take an after picture, bummer...

Please Don't Feed Fingers to the Horses...

2008-09-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

...Always a good rule, but ESPECIALLY at The Land of Little Horses which is where we went on Sunday since the girls absolutely LOVE anything to do with horses. They had so much fun grooming and feeding the horses! They also got to take a pony ride, which was probably a highlight for each of them. The weather was gorgeous and we had a wonderful day having fun as a family! We must have looked very relaxed and at ease b/c someone even came up to us and told us that we made having four kids look easy! We kind of just chuckled about that later:)

*Notice the cowgirl hats have made yet another comeback...the girls LOVE these things! As soon as we told them where we were going, they immediately went for the hats:)

Zane's first horse ride:) Okay, so he didn't really "ride" but it still counts for something...Okay so Jared will prob kill me for posting this pic...but I just had to, it's so funny! (I'm just glad he didn't get any pics of me trying to lasso those bull horns:)It was way harder than it looks!

All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth...

2008-09-12T12:24:00.000-07:00

That's what Taegan will be singing this year:) She FINALLY lost those 2 front teeth that hung on all summer!

My Little Man...

2008-09-12T12:14:00.001-07:00

Zane is growing up so fast! I don't know, with him being the last, I was hoping time would go by slower so I can really enjoy the baby stage...but it seems to be flying by! We took him to Penney's for a photo session which didn't quite turn out as expected (long story), so I took pics of what I wanted myself.

Check out those baby blues:) Let's hope he keeps them!!Zane is 2 months old now!!!

School Days

2008-09-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

Taegan started first grade this year...where has the time gone?!? She was looking forward to the first day of school weeks before it got here! Every year I make a sign for the first day of school...Jared is a little embarassed by it, but I'm thinking I will want that picture for my scrapbooks! He jokingly said that the girls will be seniors and still carrying a sign...and who knows...maybe they will:)

Taegan and her friend, Lindsay, had on the exact same dress and headband for the first day. They got lots of giggles about having the same outfit on:)These are Taegan's best friends: Ella Hixon, Grace Hilsher, Tae, Haley Witmer, and Lindsay Nicklas. We are so thankful Taegan has such wonderful friends!!

Jaelyn started K4 this year, she goes Tuesday and Thursday all day. She was very excited for school as well!

We can't wait to see what Jaelyn will learn this year and who her best friends will be:)

I'm Back!!!

2008-09-12T11:21:00.001-07:00

After a brief blogging hiatus, I am back:) We have been crazy busy trying to get in some sort of routine with the start of school and all that comes with that, as well as the start of cheerleading for Taegan.

Since I never finished blogging about the beach...I'll just post some of my favorite pics.

We rented this suri 2 mornings and had an absolute blast! We had so much fun riding on the boardwalk and did lots of laughing as a family! What great memories!!

My 2 men:) Zane looked adorable in his swim trunks...thanks Aunt Tish!

Jaelyn wanted to be a mermaid:)

What a fun time at the beach!!!

Beach Fun!

2008-08-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Who was I kidding by thinking I was actually going to post blogs from the beach?!? Anyway, we have been to the beach and are back now and it was an action packed, fun filled 4 days! We left on Sunday for Rehoboth Beach...after packing endless suitcases it seemed:) It's exhausting packing for 6 people! When we arrived on Sunday, we were happy to find that we could check right into our hotel (which was right on the boardwalk...super convenient!)...and then it was right out to the beach! The girls had a BLAST! Since I am not really a fan of sand UNLESS it's at the beach, the girls were in their glory. They were totally covered by the time we headed back up to the hotel! Here's some highlights:

After we were done on the beach, we headed out to the boardwalk. We did a little shopping, played a few games, and took in the beautiful scenery:
On Monday, we headed to a place called Jungle Jim's. Jared took the girls on go-karts, we did the bumper boats, and played some mini golf. There was a water park there also, but we decided that since we all couldn't do anything, we weren't going to spend the money on it. But we will for sure be returning in future years!

(I have no idea who the people in the picture are)This was the ONLY ride Kaesyn enjoyed...she would not get on the go karts and she hated the bumper boats! But this lion, she loved:)

Okay, hate to do this but we have to scoot out the door so I will have to finish blogging about the beach a little later! More to come!!!

The Angels Are Rejoicing...

2008-08-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Tonight has been a momentous night. Let me preface this post by saying that we have been talking to the girls about asking Jesus into their hearts during our nightly reading of the Bible and prayer time. We have explained what it meant many times but they said they weren't ready. Okay, back to tonight. I was folding wash when Taegan came up to me and said she had been thinking about it and she was ready to ask Jesus into her heart! So we stopped everything, got the Bible, and sat down as a family. Then, Jaelyn said she wanted to also ask Jesus into her heart! We wanted to make sure they understood everything and then Jared prayed with them. It was soooo awesome to see our girls make such a life changing decision.

Praying with Taegan:

Praying with Jaelyn:

After the girls received Jesus into their hearts, they were so excited and wanted to call everyone to tell them! I hope they always have a passion to tell others about our amazing Lord! We are so proud of the decision our girls have made!

Potty Training...

2008-08-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

I was not at all ready to start potty training Kaesyn, I actually didn't want to start until Zane was on a good schedule. However...Kaesyn had other plans. We are now in the beginning stages of potty training, and let me tell ya...that girl can sit FOREVER! She is doing really good though and I think she has been the most fun to potty train so far. She gets soo excited when she pees on the potty, it's hilarious!
So, although I was not ready for this...I guess it will be nice to only have to buy diapers for one instead of two!

One Month...

2008-08-06T13:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it...Zane is a month old already! So far he has proved to be an easy baby, he only really fusses when he is hungry. And he's a good eater...weighing in at 9 pounds already! We are enjoying his alert times and he's starting to get excited about things. The girls still love to hold him and give him his nuk, they are definitely little mommies!

One cool dude...

2008-08-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Hostetter's for a great evening last night! We enjoyed the food and the fellowship even more! Zane says thanks for the cool new shades!!!Some other highlights from the evening:
And sorry Ryan, but I just had to post this one...Too Cute!!!

Kaesyn...and her sleeping habit

2008-08-06T12:56:00.000-07:00

So for the past 2 weeks or so, Kaesyn has not slept in her bed. For some reason, she has taken a liking to the hard floor. So last night I decided that every time I was up nursing Zane, I was going to take a picture of Kaesyn wherever she was sleeping at the time. SO for your viewing enjoyment...here's a look at Kaesyn and her sleeping locations:

This is her new routine, she takes everything FROM her bed and puts it here, this was 9:00pm

Now it's 11:00...she hasn't moved too muchOkay, it's now 1:30 AM and YAY! she's in bed!!! (Notice, that she took everything BACK to bed with her)And now it's 4:30 AM...at first I couldn't even find her! I have no idea how this can even be comfortable!And this is how it goes EVERY NIGHT! Anyone have any suggestions on how to get her to stay IN BED?!?

Dutch Wonderland Fun...

2008-08-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

On Monday we once again braved Dutch Wonderland...this time with Zane! I kinda forgot how much more you need to take with an infant, we had bags everywhere...for those "just in case" moments. We rode rides, did the water park, and watched the diving show. I had fun riding rides with each of the girls, much more fun than just being a spectator!

Getting ready to get wet!!!! All tuckered out...this happened the last time we were here too!Keegan was hilarious, he'd put his arms up until they were whipped around the corner and then he'd grab the side of the car!Getting to ride the Turtle Whirl, which she insisted on riding:)And...this is what happened when we got home, everyone was exhausted but Zane! He was WIDE awake! Although, I will have to say that he was very good in the park, except for the fact that he slept there and not at home!

Thursday Fun...

2008-07-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today was the last "Lunch on the Square" for the summer, so of course we had to go! We were thrilled that Angie and Jackson Mohr were also there! And did I mention that Nancy Turk was there also with her kiddos (wink, wink, Nance)and although she didn't eat there, she did do the craft:) Where was everyone else?!? After enjoying our lunch, we headed across the street for crafts and the ever-popular face painting. Today the kids colored butterfly recipe card holders (which Nancy and I agreed would make cute picture holders also).

Showing off the craft

Then it was time to get our faces painted...well, in our family, we get arms painted:) But Jaelyn surprised us today by actually wanting to get her face done...and here's the result:

And Jackson decided to get his arm painted too:

Other pictures from our outing... My 2 favorite guys:)

The New Man in Town...

2008-07-30T05:35:00.000-07:00

I have a new man in my life...and he's totally stolen my heart! I love this little guy to pieces...we all do! Thanks to Joe and Kateri for the onesie...it's one of my favorites:)

Some of the highlights from the past week or so are:

At his 2 week visit, Zane weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz! I was completely thrilled!!! When he came home from the hospital he was 5 lbs. 14 oz., so I was hoping he'd be at least close to 7 lbs. I felt good knowing that he is obviousely getting enough to eat!

Zane had his first tub bath this morning. He didn 't seem to phased by it, he didn't cry or anything, just kinda laid there. Although, when we got him out, he did pee on me...comes with a boy I guess:)

Kaesyn has decided to not sleep in her bed anymore. She now prefers the hallway! She's been doing this for about a week or so now. One would think it would get a little uncomfortable sleeping on the hard floor but she doesn't seem to mind. And usually halfway though the night, she goes back to her room.

The other day Jared and Zane were cuddled up for a nap, and I was able to snap some super cute pictures!

Our Little Man...

2008-07-15T12:43:00.001-07:00

So far Zane has proved to be a very easy baby...he goes 3 hours in between feedings and he even wakes himself to eat! We are thoroughly enjoying our beautiful baby boy! I have learned to be very fast at diaper changes and although many have told me boys are "easier" to change than girls, I'm not buyin' it...at least not yet. There is just way too much to do all at one time! Here are a couple of the latest pics:

Playing Catch Up...

2008-07-15T12:05:00.001-07:00

Jared has been VERY helpful with stuff around the house...so I thought I'd take the time and do some catch up work on my blog, since I never did get around to it before Zane was born.

Our month of June was pretty much consumed by getting the basement ready for the girls...but we did manage to get some "fun family time" in:)

We went to Dutch Wonderland with some friends of ours...unfortunately we picked THE hottest day of the whole month I think. I even had some lady come up to me and ask if I should really be at the park in "my condition"...I assured her I was sitting alot and drinking plenty of water! It's amazing what people will say right to your face! Here are some highlights of the day:

The girls enjoyed alot of rides and we all enjoyed the water park. We can't wait to go back later on this summer!

The next "big" thing in June was that Kaesyn turned 2! We decided to keep it really simple this year since we had so much other stuff going on. We had a cookout with family and then headed up to Lake Tobias since Kaesyn LOVES animals. We absolutely LOVE going to Lake Tobias...it's a great place to take kids! (Oh, and Jena...if you are reading this...no fancy birthday cake this time:) My belly was a little too big and bending over a cake wasn't too appealing to me, so I took the easy way out and just did cupcakes). Here are some highlights from the day:

The Birthday Girl:)

Kaesyn was HILARIOUS in the petting zoo...all the goats wanted her crackers but she didn't want them to eat them at first. Every time a goat came up to get a cracker she said "HEY!" and pulled the cracker away. Finally, with a little coaxing, she gave up the crackers! Taegan found a goat that she really liked and called it "her buddy" and Jaelyn's favorite were the ponies. I opted to not do the bumpy safari ride, but the girls really enjoyed that too! It was a really fun day!

INTRODUCING...

2008-07-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

Zane Matthew Akers

July 6th 3:14 a.m.

6 lbs. 5 oz 19"long

So here's the story...we went to the hospital on Saturday afternoon, after contracting all day Friday and Saturday morning. I was 3 1/2 cm so they told me to walk the halls for awhile. After walking for about 45 minutes, I was about 4 1/2 cm so they decided to keep me. I was hoping for a short labor but it turned into a pretty long night. I was dilating and making progress but Zane's head was a little turned and was preventing him from dropping down into the birth canal. At about midnight I was pretty exhausted and asked for some staydol so I could rest for a little. That knocked me out for about an hour and a half, which I definitely needed. Then they gave me some pitocin to help get my contractions going more regularly. I started pushing at around 2:45 and he was born half an hour later. Because he dropped so fast and was out in one push, there was a little bit of fluid on his lungs, so they had to monitor that for awhile. But we are thankful he is very healthy and doing great!

The girls absolutely LOVE their baby brother...and fight over who gets to hold him next:) Kaesyn calls him her baby and doesn't give him up too easily! Well...motherly duties are calling...be back to blog later!

Update...

2008-06-30T05:11:00.000-07:00

Okay Karen...here's the latest:) We are definitely 2 cm now...instead of the "almost 2" I was at last week's appt. I was hoping for a little more but oh well. The Dr. still seems to think it could very well be anytime now but we talked about going in on the 14th. So, worst case scenario will be then. They did an ultrasound to just double check he's head down b/c I've been feeling like he's laying diagonally...but he is head down so hopefully he stays that way! Other than that...no real news...2 weeks to go!

Look for more posts today or tomorrow...LOTS to catch up on!

Crazy Times...

2008-06-24T06:23:00.001-07:00

So, many of you know that we have literally been holed up in our basement for the past few weeks...and finally we are making progress! The girls have been moved and now we are in the process of switching everything around. This is not what I wanted to be doing at the end of my pregnancy but,well, sometimes that's just how it goes! So, I know I have LOTS to catch up on and I promise to get to it! But, I thought I would share other news for the moment:

We had a dr appt. yesterday and I am just about 2cm dilated and the dr seems to think that I am going to go within the next 2 weeks. In the event that I don't, we will be going to the hospital on the 14th for an "induction". Now while I am very exctied about this and to meet our little guy, I can't help but think of all we have to do yet! At most 3 weeks...that's going to fly!!!!! Anyway...just wanted to keep everyone posted! More blogging to come later:)

It's Party Time...Again:)

2008-06-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

Taegan had her birthday party this past Saturday and to say she was excited is an understatement! She decided on a horse party and we were sooo hoping to be able to have a horse here for horse rides and to also be outside, however, due to weather we ended up having to move everything inside. I gotta say, having a May birthday has proven to be difficult...the weather is just not reliable!!! Anyway, for her cake this year, she wanted horses ON the cake, not an actual horse cake...whooo, I knew that was going to be LOTS easier than the cake I made for Jaelyn! I think from the time I started decorating until I was done was about 1 1/2 hours...the quickest cake ever!!!!

So, the day of Taegan's party turned out to be pretty much a washout, so we planned inside activities. The girls decorated horse shoe magnets, bobbed for apples, and had their pictures taken in front of a "barn". Everyone seemd to have a good time...despite the weather!

Taegan was just a little excited:)

Our Little Graduate!

2008-06-03T11:42:00.000-07:00

Taegan had her K5 graduation last Thursday evening...she was so excited! And while I vowed to not be "emotional", I did get a little teary:) I am blaming the pregnancy hormones:) Taegan had 2 lines to recite and she did so good! I was a little nervous for her b/c there were a lot of people there, but she did great! She also got an award for best attendance...she never missed a day of school! We are so proud of you Taegan and everything you accomplished this year!!!

Taegan and Mrs. Sherrick

Happy Birthday Taegan!!!

2008-05-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Taegan is 6 already! Where has the time gone!?! She had such a fun special day yesterday...it was the last day of school and they had a picnic/carnival...how cool that it happened to fall on her exact birthday! She has had a great year of K5...she LOVES school and I think will really miss it this summer! Here's some highlights from the carnival:

At the dress up booth:

Taegan and Mrs. Sherrick:

And I just couldn't resist this one...Kaesyn just LOVES Trey and they were so cute playing ball with each other!

Taegan with Grace Hilsher and Ella HixonTaegan with AverieUsing her tickets at the ticket booth:I am so happy you had such a fun day Taegan! We can't wait to see what great things happen for you this year! We love you sooo much! Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Memorial Day!

2008-05-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Memorial Day, we drove up to Knoebels Amusement Park for the day. If you don't know about Knoebels, you should definitely check it out...especially if you have kids! No admission fee...no paying to park...you just pay for what you do AND you can bring a picnic lunch into the park if you wish. It is definitely one of our most favorite places to take the girls! It was fun just spending time as a family doing whatever the girls wanted to do, especially since we have been so focused on getting ready for the baby and whatnot. I couldn't ride very much so I was the "photographer/dog holder"...but it was still tons of fun! Here are some of our highlights:I think they must have waxed the slide for the season b/c everyone that came down, pretty much wiped out!One of the girls all time favorite rides...the frog hopper!

The girls had a BLAST...and Kaesyn really surprised us by riding just about everything Taegan and Jaelyn did. The only rides she didn't go on were the ones she wasn't big enough for! We can't wait to go again!

Circus Fun...

2008-05-29T04:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the 24th, we went to the Circus in Hershey with the Jerchau Family. What a fun night we had! I was a little concerned about keeping Kaesyn occupied, especially since the circus only started at 7:30 and that's pretty close to bedtime...but she did great! She was totally mesmerized by everything and especially loved the animals! The highlights for the girls were: the tigers, the trapeze artists, and the horses. I have to admit...I was on the edge of my seat as they did many of the stunts without nets! One wrong move and , well, you know! But, all in all, we enjoyed the circus this year much more than the one last year and can't wait to see what next year will bring!

Towards the end of the circus, Ian and Zach both wanted to sit with Kaesyn...Zach especially was "taken" with her and held her hand for a long time! So cute!

New Bedding

2008-05-15T05:27:00.000-07:00

As per Jena's request...here's a picture of our new bedding! I can't wait until all of our remodeling is done so we can put it all together. I'm so excited to have a "new" room!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2008-05-15T03:54:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day was such a fun day! When I first woke up (after sleeping all night...yay!), the girls gave me their cards and then made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed for church. Jaelyn planted a "miracle" for me...it took me awhile to catch on to what she was saying...but I quickly figured out she was talking about the marigold she planted. She keeps calling it her miracle, how cute.

After church, we met my parents and sister/her Jared at Hoss's for lunch. I was so hungry for real food, I couldn't wait! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures with my Mom and sis.

After getting home, the girls really wanted to put together their present to me...can you figure out what it is?

I have been subtly hinting to Jared that I would really, really like one of these for when the baby comes...I have visions of me just sitting, swinging away with the baby while the girls play:) We'll see how realistic that turns out to be, but needless to say, I was VERY excited about my swing!

But my day did not end here...after coming inside, the girls instructed me to sit down in the chair...and I was "treated" to a manicure and pedicure. The girls had a blast and I had fun just watching them...but as you will see, my fingers and toes turned out, um, interesting:)

While my feet were soaking, the girls painted my finger nails. Kaesyn painted not only my nail, but alot of my finger as well! After my hands were done, they dried my feet off and put lotion on them...talk about pampering!

Now time for the fun part...and I chose bright pink for my toes:)

Thank you girls for pampering me and treating me so such special treatment! I love all of you sooo much!

*note: I did tell Jared that he had to fix my toes after they went to bed, which he did willingly:)

CoCo the Pony

2008-05-15T03:27:00.000-07:00

On Friday night we had plans to get together with the Morrissey's. We always enjoy hanging out with their family...and Friday night was extra special b/c we went to see their pony CoCo. The girls LOVE ponies/horses so I knew this was going to be a HUGE hit! Notice the cowgirl hats made a comeback:) When they heard we were going to see a pony, they immediately had to get their hats...too cute!

First, the girls got to brush CoCo, and as you can see from Kaesyn's face, she LOVED this!

Kaesyn loved riding the pony even more than I thought she would, she cried and screamed when it was time to get off! She wanted to keep riding!After riding for a little bit, the girls got to go in the bunny hutch and hold some bunnies.

Thanks for such a fun time Jim and Amy! I am so sorry we had to cut it short!!!

I should make note for everyone else, and my future reference, that Friday turned out to be an eventful day...which is why our visit was cut short. I had not been feeling well all day but didn't want to ruin the night for the girls. I thought I could make it through the night without everyone knowing how I felt. But, as the night went on, I started feeling worse and I was having contractions pretty regularly. So we did end up leaving early. We stopped at my sister's house so I could lay down for awhile until they stopped...but at 1 am I woke up from having contractions consistently...prob around 6 an hour. So, by 6am we were on the way to the hospital. I was so worried they were going to put me on bed rest or something...this is prob my biggest fear as we have sooo much to do. But, they said I was having contractions due to being dehydrated...so a bag of fluids later and I was good to go, with the instructions to take it easy the rest of the weekend. By Sunday, I was feeling much better...but my water bottle is now my new best friend! Never a dull moment!

AWANA

2008-05-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have some MAJOR catching up to do on here...so get ready:)

AWANA ended for the year last week. Our girls only started this club in January and it was so exciting to see them excited about this every week. We can't wait until next year when I think we will have a little better grasp on everything. To end the year, there was an awards ceremony followed by Rita's Italian Ice...yummy!!

Each group got to go up front and sing their song...

Jaelyn received a cubbie bear to put on her vest! We are so proud of you Jaelyn and all you accomplished in a short amount of time!

Next it was time for Taegan's group, the Sparks:

Taegan LOVED going to AWANA every Wednesday night, and we loved how excited she was about it! She got a certificate but I totally missed my photo opportunity and didn't get the picture quick enough:) We're so proud of you Taegan!

FANTASTIC Monday!!!!!

2008-04-28T12:41:00.000-07:00

Okay...the results are in!!!! Keep in mind that the top consignor for this sale made $471.50, and when I read that, I figured I would be nowhere close to that. (I brought home prob half of what I took, mostly winter stuff) I was HOPING to have made at least $200-250, I figured that would have been decent. Imagine the overwhelming sense of satisfaction and happiness I felt when I got my check today and saw that I made $417.52!!!!!! WooHoo!!!!!!! So for anyone interested...they are doing another sale in October and I will DEFINITELY be doing it again! If anyone is interested, I can get you the info you need.
So, the other part of my fantastic Monday was that we scored 2-$25 gift cards for Park City today...just by showing up to the guest center! Now this is awesome to me and such a God thing...I decided that Jared and I were going to get new bedding, since we had our old set since we were married...and it was time for a change. I sold all of our bed stuff on Ebay and still needed $50 yet to get the new set. But I knew that I wanted to be able to pay cash for it, since it wasn't a "need", just something extra. And voila...I get the email about the Park City gift cards! Is God awesome or what?!?

Despite the rain and yucky weather...it has turned out to be a GREAT day!!!

Overwhelmed...

2008-04-15T11:05:00.000-07:00

is how I feel right now! Getting ready for this little boy to come entails many things to do! Not only are we making more room for our growing family, we have lots of stuff to "sort through". This has literally, totally consumed my time for quite a few weeks, which is why I've not posted a blog until now. I knew we had alot of girl stuff...but until I drug it ALL out, I had no idea we had so much! So, when I was trying to decide the quickest and easiest way to get rid of all of it, I knew I had 3 choices: Ebay, consign, and yardsale. I found about this huge consigment sale in Lancaster where the profits get split 70/30 (I get the 70)and decided that was definitely something I should do. So, for the past month or so, I have been first, separating everything into piles for consigment/ebay/yardsale and then pricing/listing/and whatnot. Everything for the consignment sale had to be on hangers or ziploc bags, priced with a description/price/my number/and size. This took so much more time than I realized! And, our living room has been a disaster area, we can't even sit on our couch! I only have a few more piles to hang and price but here's what our house looks like right now:

The baskets and small tote are just shoes/hats/ and blankets! I'm sorta sad that we won't have any more little girls to wear all these cute sandals! Some of them, the girls never even wore!This is our couch, as of today. The piles on the far right still have to be hung, sorted by size, and tagged...I just need more hangers:) And that actually looks really good... before everything was in totes, you coudln't even see the back of the couch!These 2 bins are filled to the tippy top with clothes...all ready to go! They are so heavy that if anyone comes over, I just have to apologize for the mess b/c there's no way I'm gonna move them!

I'm really hoping this turns out to be a good thing not only b/c we have much to get for our little boy, but also b/c I have spent sooo much time on this project. We are also planning multiple yardsales...to get rid of the 4 totes of clothing I have for that! Geez, maybe I should have just opened my own little store!

In other news...things are going good with the baby. I had my glucose test yesterday, YAY for no more needles or bloodwork done! (until the iv at delivery anyway...which I always ask NOT to get, but they make me) I started having BH contractions about 2 weeks ago, which seemed kinda early to me, so now I just kinda have to watch what I do and not "over-do"it. Anyone else out there have them that early?? Oh, and Jared asked if he could deliver this baby too and unfortunately, he won't be able to...we were a little bummed about that. I think that's it for now!

Happy Easter!!!

2008-03-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled Easter Day! Here are a few of my favorite pics:

Filling our baskets on Saturday night...Kaesyn started by filling hers one strand at a time until Jaelyn helped her:) We would have been there ALL night:)

Jared and I then had fun filling the baskets and hiding them! The girls were so excited Easter morning to go on the hunt for their baskets! It took them a while but they finally found 'em!

There were eggs filled with pretty ponies, pets from little pet shop, and little people...bubbles...chocolate lollipops...and we can't forget our rat jars:) Yes, Jared picked these out at the Disney Store for Jaelyn and Kaesyn...they are jars with Remi from Ratatouille in them and you turn the rat on and he "rolls" the jar. Wasn't my pick for an Easter basket but...they were a hit nonetheless:) (Taegan got something different...i didn't really think we needed 3 of these rats, hehehe)

Then it was time to get ready for church and from there, Grandma and Grandpa's house! I have so much fun dressing the girls alike for holidays :) and I just LOVED their Easter dresses this year! We took some outside pics at my parent's house:

Jaelyn absolutley loved the fact that she could spread out her dress like this...in fact, if anyone saw her in church, she kept twirling so her dress would flare out:) (I guess it's a good thing we were in the back)

After lunch, we opened Easter baskets and then it was time...for the all important egg hunt!

The girls had so much fun hunting eggs, we hid them over and over again! Kaesyn, especially, was very into it this year. They spent alot of the afternoon outside gathering eggs and re-hiding them! It was a great afternoon spent with family!

Another Prayer Request...

2008-03-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

Okay fellow bloggers and mommies:), I have a prayer request and since we all know the power of prayer is totally awesome, I wanted to share it. Today I got together with a friend from high school,her name is Kerri. Kerri and her hubby, Kevin, had been trying for awhile to get pregnant and were finally successful. She is due not too far behind me, and just had her ultrasound on Monday. They were told at their ultrasound that their baby's heart is on the right side of the chest instead of the left. This is a very rare occurence from what they were told. There is a chance that the baby could lead a totally normal life, as everything was pumping in and out of the heart as it should be. But, the doctor's are concerned about the lung development now. Kerri is pretty certain that she will have to have a C-Section and is really hoping to make it full term. There is also a possibility that their baby will have to have surgery hours after birth, even then with no guarantees. She said she will keep me posted, she has a test on Friday that will hopefully provide some more info.

I had no idea what to even say to her, I have no idea what it's like to be in a situation like that. I feel so incredibly blessed to have had 3 successful pregnancies/deliveries, and now a 4th pregnancy. So please, please pray for Kerri and her hubby as they are pretty emotional right now about this whole situation. I also do not know if they are saved, I don't think so, but I don't know for sure.

I just know that all of us mommies know what it feels like to carry a precious life and I know that I can't imgaine what it must feel like to KNOW that something is not right with my baby! And I know that if anyone would understand, it would be other moms...so thanks for praying for them!!!

Funny girl...

2008-03-17T04:45:00.001-07:00

This post is more for my memory than anything b/c Jaelyn said the funniest thing the other day, and I want to be able to remember it years from now:) But, for all of you reading this, I should preface it by saying that the rule in our house is that you can't have gum until you're 4 years old...ESP Jaelyn, b/c she just chews and swallows it:)

So, now that Jaelyn is 4 years old, she can officially have gum and I gave her her first piece last week after she did so well at pictures. Apparently, she LOVES gum now and asks anybody and everybody for some all of the time. Well, the other day it was nearing snack time and she said she wanted a piece of gum. Here's how our little conversation played out:
J: "I...WANT...A...PIECE...OF...GUM...FOR...SNACK"
Me: " Sorry Jaelyn, gum is not a snack"
J: (very angry at me for saying no...comes back with this) "Well, fine then, I'm not going to show you how I can zip"
Me: (trying very hard not to laugh) "Okay Jaelyn"

Her face during this whole little episode was HILARIOUS! She was so mad that she couldn't have gum and I guess that was the best comeback she could think of! Funny girl!!!

Confirmation...

2008-03-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

At last week's ultrasound, we found out we are having a boy! After having 3 girls, I still felt I needed a definite "confirmation"...aka, pictures to confirm that it IS a boy. Lucky for us, one of Jared's clients is Womb with View...and what better time to call on them than now! So, yesterday was his meeting with them and I got to go along for a "confirmation scan". I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no idea how AWESOME the whole experience was going to be! It was a total different feeling than that of the ultrasound at the hospital. We were able to just watch our baby and try to get some really good pictures. I can't wait to go back in May and get more 3d's done! I highly reccommend going there to anyone who is pregnant!!! Here are some of my favorite pictures:
The 3D effect is awesome, we never had that done before!

And this was one of my confirming pictures:) As soon as Kelly scanned that area she said she was 250% sure it's a boy...and you can see why:)We were also able to watch our little boy in 4D,which was undescribable! If you want to see a little of the video, follow this link:

http://akersvideo.com/family

It was so cool to see this little guy moving all around. We were able to see him move his little hands, open and close his mouth, smile and yawn! It was simply amazing! Isn't life such a miracle!?! How cool that we get this inside look!

Decorating Easter Eggs...

2008-03-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite things to do at Easter time is decorate Easter Eggs with the girls! So yesterday, I hardboiled all the eggs in preparation...and the girls were so excited! After dinner, we started getting ready for this whole process...

We knew this was going to be an interesting year for this because Kaesyn is old enough to want to take part! She didn't quite get the fact that she had to leave the eggs sit in their color for a little while...she kept moving them back and forth between cups...WITH HER HANDS! She started out putting 2 eggs in this cup...

and then moved them both to this cup...Look at that hand!!!

Now, don't let this cute look fool you...everything was running smoothly...until she spilled a WHOLE cup a bright blue dye! Apparently Kaesyn thought SHE could move the cups and well, it didn't work out so well:) No pics of that...sorry:)

We noticed something else this year...Taegan took alot of time with her eggs and really thought about what color she wanted to make each one, while Jaelyn just put hers in colors:) Jaelyn was done with her pile of eggs long before Taegan was:)

So, new this year, was the egg that was deemed the "family egg". I have NO IDEA what this means or how this came about but the girls were so into the "family egg", it was kinda funny. All it really is is an egg that Jared dipped in just about every color dye we had! So, here is the Akers Family Egg for your viewing pleasure:)

And here are all of our eggs...ready for Easter day to be hidden outside hopefully!

What a fun family night! The girls had a blast and that's all that counts! Now we can't wait to hide these eggs!!!

Jaelyn's Birthday Party

2008-03-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

We had Jaelyn's party on Sunday and she was SUPER excited about all of her friends coming! Her friends that were there were: James and Olivia Morrissey, Melanie Wagner, Kacy Robinson, Kara and Joshua Locker, Kierstan and Tristan Lentz, and of course Taegan and Kaesyn. We started out with a coloring activity while we were waiting on everyone to come.

Once everyone was here, we painted pony suncatchers...and boys painted frog suncatchers:)

After that,we played pin the design on the pony (for anyone not famiiar with my little pony...that's the design on their behinds). This game turned out to be HILARIOUS b/c I think only 1 or 2 kids actually even got the design on the pony...all the rest were on walls and and the door! I think one even got stuck on baby Declan:)

Then it was time for the pinata...but for some reason I have no good pictures of that. But it was a hit anyway...and the kids gots lots of candy:)

Then Jaelyn opened presents:

She loved everything she opened!!!

Time for cake!

It turned out to be a very nice birthday party and Jaelyn had alot of fun! Happy Birthday Jaelyn!!!!! I love you bunches and bunches!!!!

Jaelyn's Cake

2008-03-04T08:43:00.001-08:00

As if I need one more thing to add to birthday parties, I always make the girls cakes! They really like telling me how they want their cakes, and I know it will be a memory for them. This process usually takes the majority of the day before the party...but all worth it in the end. I had NO IDEA what to do for Jaelyn's cake this year...she kept saying she wanted a whole pony but I just couldn't find any pictures cute enough. So, finally I came up with something...Jaelyn and I sat down and picked out which pony I was going to do...and then it was time to make this cake!

Here are some pictures of the process...I didn't take as many as I would have liked to but I was trying to keep moving!

The first step...piecing the 3 cakes together to make the pony

Second step...mixing all the icing colors

And finally...putting the icing on the cake

Putting on the finishing touches

The finished cake!

It's a...

2008-03-03T12:27:00.000-08:00

I will go back and blog all about Jaelyn's 4th birthday party but I just had to post our latest news! We had our ultrasound today! Everything looked great with the baby! It is as cool seeing the 4th baby in utero as it was the 1st! The baby was somewhat uncooperative, so we only got one good profile picture, as seen above:)

Oh yeah, and we found out one other minor detail...IT'S A BOY!!!!!!

Can you believe it?!? After 3 girls?!? I am still in disbelief a little bit...and Jared is on cloud 9!!!

Disney On Ice...

2008-03-03T05:44:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for a little while...so it's time to catch up! Jared scored some tickets from work for Disney on Ice:Princess Classics...so, last Thursday we headed off to the Giant Center to see the Princesses! The girls were very excited and I think they enjoyed it a little more than last year because they know the stores a little better. They really wanted to dress up but it was sooooo cold that we decided just to wear princess sweatshirts instead:) Even Kaesyn enjoyed the show, well, the first half anyway:) After that, she was about done! Here are some pics of the show:

In awe... Aladdin and Jasmine Beauty and the Beast Cinderella Mickey and Minnie

Please Pray...

2008-02-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

I just found out that one of my friends from the other MOMS group I do (at Lebanon Valley Bible Church) died last night. Deena Tice was only 29, and has 3 young children (pretty much the same ages as my girls). She died of a massive heart attack. I grew up with her (we were in 4-H together)and talked to her all the time at MOMS group. This hits me hard b/c she was basically the same age as I am with 3 young children. Please, please pray for her family because she will be so greatly missed. She was a very devoted mother and wife and a wonderful friend to have.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

2008-02-19T06:54:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day is such a fun and special day in our household. I love to do fun things for the girls throughout the day. When the girls woke up Thursday morning, this is what they found at the breakfast table: Then, we had a fun playdate with Kara and Joshua Locker. We made a fun lunch of heart shaped grilled cheese sandwiches and mac -n-cheese, and of course had red punch for drink. After lunch, we decided to make some Valentines for the daddies:) Everone was very creative:)

And the finished valentines:Joshua had so much fun riding on Kaesyn's zebra, I wish I had gotten a picture of him! We had so much fun with the Locker's and can't wait for the next playdate!

When Jared got home from work, we took the girls to get their Valentines picture done at the Picture People. A little late...but with sickness and snow, I figured better late than never! It turned out really cute!

After pictures, we headed to Build-A-Bear...an experience in and of itself:) The last time Jaelyn did this, she was very little and didn't really remember it, so it was like a whole new experience for her! When we first walked in, we had to pick our animal...and we thought THAT was going to be the tough choice of the night:)

The girls FINALLY decided on animals...matching pink and white bears:)Next, it was on to the fluffing station...putting the heart in...sewing them up:

And from this station, we moved on to the brushing and "washing" station:

And we FINALLY made it to the most important part of this whole process...picking out just the right outfit! THIS turned out to be the toughest decision, especially for Jaelyn:) She kept changing her mind...soo many choices, too little time:) After we made our decisions, it was time to dress the bears, which Jared did, and was thrilled I might add, hehehe.

After that, it was time to name our bears...if you look closely in the picture, you will see that Taegan and Jaelyn picked EXACTLY the same bear with EXACTLY the same dress. We tried to get one of them to change their minds about something so we could tell these bears apart, but their minds were pretty made up!

Our Build-A-Bear experience has now been completed...time to take these bears home!

It really is such a fun thing to do for kids, and the girls had a blast. We weren't sure if Kaesyn would last through the whole process, so we are going to take her some other time...not so close to bedtime:)

The next day, the girls told me "that was the best Valentine's Day ever!" which made me feel really good that we could do that for them. I love you Taegan, Jaelyn, and Kaesyn...you are all so special to me!

Not to totally leave Jared out of this...we had our own Valentines later after the girls went to bed...Jared covered our table with rose petals and since dinner was over, we had candle lit dessert with our favorite desserts (mine being tiramisu...yummy!) It was very nice...until we had to go referee something in the girls room! Oh well...such is Valentine's Day with kids! Thank you Jared, for thinking of us and making a special night for us as well! I love you from the bottom of my toes! I could not have asked for a better husband!

I hope everyone had a special Valentines Day with those that you love! And big CONGRATS to Ryan and Jena for their special Valentines gift, baby Avalyn...we can't wait to meet her!!!

And the Gold Medal goes to...

2008-02-11T05:11:00.000-08:00

Jared!!! For being the best husband/daddy ever!!! Okay, let's set the scene...Friday was Jared's birthday, and Saturday was supposed to be my surprise 30th birthday party...so we knew we had a fun and busy weekend ahead of us. Well, on Friday afternoon, Jaelyn got sick with the stomach thing...then Kaesyn...then me...and then Taegan. It was AWFUL!!! Jared spent his birthday night taking care of us sick girls and got no sleep at all! When I got sick, I was still trying to be optimistic about my party (which I knew was happening just not what it was)...but the more I got sick, we knew it wasn't going to happen. I felt so bad, Jared had been planning for a long time and put sooo much work into it. Finally, after a trip to the hospital to get fluids, I felt a little better, still out of it but at least not throwing up. But then, Jared got it! What an awful weekend for this to happen!! Thankfully, we are all on the mend now! And we are VERY sorry for anyone we may have passed this to!
Thank you honey for taking such good care of us! We love you bunches and bunches!!!

For those wondering...the party is going to be rescheduled NOT cancelled...because it was such an awesome idea and I think it will be lots of fun! More info to come on that, after Jared makes some phone calls!

Pay It Forward

2008-02-06T13:10:00.001-08:00

Have you heard about it? Pay it forward? A friend of mine had posted about this and I decided to take up the challenge! The rules? For the first 3 to comment on this PIF post who want to particitpate: You will get something handmade from me, maybe not anytime soon, but sometime within the next 365 days. Here's the catch...if you decide to participate, YOU must do the same on your blog, and make something for the first three people who comment on YOUR PIF post. You never know what you will get! Doesn't this sound like fun?!?

Playdate with Kacy...

2008-02-06T09:47:00.001-08:00

Jaelyn is always excited for Mondays...it now means that she gets a playdate with Kacy! Jen and I "swap" kids back and forth on Mondays, and it is lots of fun for the girls. Kacy and Jaelyn are both very girly-girls and they were pretty much singing and dancing around all afternoon. I got such a kick out of the songs they were making up!

We started out with some dress-ups...

and then moved to the doll house...the girls were really getting into being the "mommy" and the "kids"...too cute:

They were so into playing dollhouse that they didn't even want to help me make cupcakes! They came into the kitchen just as I was about to put them in the oven...so I said they could be the official "taste testers" and they liked that idea! Kacy liked the cupcakes, Jaelyn did not...so I ate hers too:) You know...one for me...one for the baby:)

After that, the girls really wanted to watch a movie and they agreed that Sleeping Beauty was the movie for them. Next thing I knew, they both had a sleeping beauty costume on..so the sleeping beauties were watching sleeping beauty!

The movie was not over by the time Jen got here with Taegan, so we decided that Kacy could stay a little while longer so they could finish the movie. Taegan was excited about that b/c she got to play with Kacy too.
They had so much fun and we look forward to getting to know Kacy and her family more! I see some sleepovers in our future:)

Free Family Fun...

2008-02-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Being a one income family...we are all about the free family fun! So, on Saturday we headed to the Family Fun Fair at the Harrisburg Mall. Jared had to work in the ABC 27 booth for a little so while he was working, the girls and I had some fun! First, we played in the play area for about 45 minutes. Since the mall wasn't open when we got there, the girls had everything to themselves and could run all over the place! It was great! Then we walked around some of the booths and of course had to stop and see Mr. McFeeley from Mister Rogers! The girls were very excited about this...they have 2 Mister Rogers DVD's, so they know exactly who Mr. McFeeley is. He autographed pictures for them and we got some tapes of Mister Rogers songs. Yes, that's right...TAPES:) I think they must have had them for a looonnnggg time in storage and were just trying to get rid of them. The girls loves these tapes, but honestly, they can put you to sleep and Jared and I can only take them for so long. But anyway, the girls were thrilled and that's all that matters! After Jared was done with his shift, we walked around a little more and then stopped to see the fish outside of the Bass Pro shop. Kaesyn was completely fascinated with them and kept holding out her arms to hold them...too cute! What a fun day!

First stop...making bookmarks!

Getting an ABC 27 tattoo from Daddy...gotta support the station!

And the finished product:

Finally, we made it to Mr. McFeeley!
Kaesyn was pretty much wiped out by this point and missed the whole Mr. McFeeley experience...although he was nice enough to autograph a picture for her as well!

Looking at the fish...she was fascinated by the outside display...I can only imagine if we had taken her in the store!

Bubble Fun...

2008-02-06T06:59:00.000-08:00

We had a free Friday night with nothing to do...so we decided to let the girls take a nice long bubble bath...and we ended up with some cute pictures! This was Kaesyn's first bubble bath experience...and she loved it!

Weekend Events...

2008-01-29T07:46:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice, relaxing weekend...which is a somewhat rare occurence in our household. Usually we have plans all weekend long and don't get time to just relax and "do nothing".

So, on Saturday, Jared announces that "we should bring up the little potty". I, of course, ask "why"...seems like a silly idea to me (since Kaesyn is ONLY 19 months and all) To which Jared replies "um, to start potty training Kaesyn!" I just shook my head and laughed, thinking "yeah right" Next thing I know...this I what I found:

And no...he didn't get any "results" from holding her there:) Doesn't she look waaaay too little to be sitting on the "big potty"?!?

We also had my sister and her hubby over on Sunday night so she could cut Taegan's hair. The girls always love when they come over and especially that they bring their dogs, Scout and Dakota. We had a make your own taco night which is ALWAYS a favorite...yum, yum! Here are some pics from our time with them:

Trying to get Taegan to sit completely still was a bit challenging...she wanted to read to Aunt Tish!Jaelyn enjoying reading with Uncle Jared...Kaesyn has started making these snooty faces. At first she would just close her eyes, but now she scrunches up her nose...it's too cute!Reading "Harry the Dirty Dog" with Jared...notice it's upside down:)

Thanks Tish and Jared for such a fun evening...as always!!!

Not Much Going On...

2008-01-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

literally:). The past few weeks have been pretty uneventful. Which is not bad I might add...but pretty boring when you want to post something exciting with pictures! Here are a few things that have happened though:

Our dear little Kaesyn, who is a sweet angel most of the time, has started throwing fits...and by fits I mean throwing herself down on the floor and rolling around. Taegan and Jaelyn NEVER did this so when Kaesyn pulled this little stunt, I was quite amused. Now it was a little funny at home and I, of course, grabbed the camera:). BUT, we have learned that it is NOT funny in the middle of the grocery store where she did the same thing. Thank goodness Jared was with me otherwise I think I would have had to do something I've never done before-leave my grocery cart sit:) I've heard of parents having to do that before but never thought I'd have to, I mean really, who ever thinks it would happen to them...well, in this case, I think I would have joined that club:) Here are some pics of the fit at home...for all of you who go to church with us and only see the angel side of Kaesyn:)

Now in case you are wondering if Kaesyn gets away with this little stunt, she does not:) She knows that this is unacceptable behavior and is disciplined appropriately:) I just had to post the pics though:)

On happier notes, we had our first baby appointment on Monday and got to hear the heartbeat for the first time! That is always so amazing to me and makes it so much more real. They confirmed my due date of July 17th and told us that our next appointment is the ultrasound already! (while it isn't until the beginning of March, I am still thinking that time is going way too fast and we have sooo much to do!) But we are excited and yes, we are going to try to find out boy/girl. I really liked being surprised with Tae and Jaelyn but let's face it...if it's a boy...WE ARE NOT PREPARED!

We are also deciding whether or not to have a doula in the room with us. A girl I went to HS with is a certified doula and has offered to be in the room with us...which I think would be kinda nice b/c she would be there the whole time as opposed to various nurses coming and going. We are still debating this though b/c Jared and I have always been a very good team and he is very much a part of the whole laboring process and we don't want to take away from that. So...has anyone ever had any experience with a doula or know of anyone that has? We are trying to find someone at least who has used one before to get their opinions before we make our final decision.

So, that's it for now...more to come!

Farm Show...Here We Come!!!

2008-01-10T07:06:00.000-08:00

We decided to brave the crowds and head to the Farm Show on Sunday...the food was just calling my name! Of course it was as crazy as ever, but we had fun nonetheless! After enoying sandwiches, french fries, baked potatoes, and milkshakes we headed to get the girls their animal masks that they really wanted. For some reason I didn't take a picture of that with our camera but there's one on Taegan's camera. Speaking of, we let the girls take their digital cameras and they had a blast taking all sorts of pictures! They had a long list of animals they wanted to see...and I think we saw them all! Here are some pictures of our experience:

There was a whole kids area where they could dig in corn, dress a scarecrow, etc. We could have spent alot of time there!

We headed to the arena to watch some of the events going on. The girls liked seeing all of the horses...and check out what grandpa bought for them:

Official "cowgirl" hats...they have become a new staple in their wardrobe:)

The girls were very impressed with the "Cinderella" carriage!

One of the highlights was getting to plant flowers! They even took their picture for us to put in the paper...be on the look out for that!

Petting Skip the horse was probably just about the best thing all day! Kaesyn gets so excited around animals and she was in her glory!

Finally, after a long day of fighting the crowds we headed home...we were there for 6 hours! I think we are farmed out until next year...

Christmas and New Year's

2008-01-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

I guess since I am starting from scratch with this whole blogging thing, I will just recap our Christmas and New Years events. Christmas was fun and busy as usual! I love this time of year but always wish there were just a few more weeks in the month of December! We went to visit my Uncle on Christmas Eve, who is in a nursing home. We walked the halls singing Christmas carols. It was so neat to bring joy to other people and it was awesome to see how much fun the girls had. They were singing their little hearts out and the old people just loved them! I'm not gonna lie...it brought a few tears to my eyes, to see my girls so intent on doing something for others and not just focusing on themselves. After that, everyone (meaning my Mom/Dad and Sis/ Hubby) came back to our house for awhile. We opened our Christmas jammies (a tradition in the Akers' household).

Finally, everyone was in bed and sound asleep...until Jared woke everyone up at 5:30 (also an Akers' tradition, and not my favorite one I might add). But, needless to say the girls were way excited and we had fun spending the morning opening and playing with gifts.

One of the highlights was Kaesyn's zebra...she loves this thing! We spent the afternoon and evening with my parents and Jared and Tish at their house. 'Til we got home in the evening, we were exhausted! Fast forward to New Year's Eve...we spent the night here with my fam once again. We thought we would let the girls (minus Kaesyn) stay up this year to see how long they could make it. We had a fun evening of playing games and watching movies (albeit kids movies, but still) and finally watching the ball drop. Jaelyn made it until about 11:45 and Taegan made it the whole night (I have no idea how that girl does it but she can stay awake FOREVER!)
New Year's Day was a momentous one...it's when we told our family our big news! We have known since November but wanted to do something fun...here's how we told our news:

Trying to get all 3 girls to stand still AND look was quite the task! Kaesyn kept trying to play peek-a-boo! But we were pretty pleased with how the shirts turned out. The girls are very excited about having a new baby and Jaelyn especially is hoping for a brother...time will tell:)

I had my first appointment so far and it was only with the nurse, I only go to the doctor on the 21st and by then I will be 15 weeks already! Time flies! We are anxious to hear and see this little one!

Until next time...

It's official!

2008-01-09T05:19:00.000-08:00

I have thought about starting my own blog for a while now...and now it's official, I have one! I can't wait to start blogging away! I think it's going to be a great way to keep in touch with people as well as journal memories for my own sake.

I have alot on my to-do list today...so a good post complete with pictures is going to have to wait for a little bit...but I'll get it going soon!