New Blog Address

To generalize the name of our blog address to include our new addition, we'll change the address to:

www.littlejandj.blogspot.com

Waiting for Joshua

We've had a fun-filled few family days getting ready for Joshua's arrival. The weekend started a bit early when I decided to start my maternity leave on Friday instead of Monday. I was having a few early signs of labor and thought I should plan for a delivery over the weekend rather than closer to my due date. Jenna and I went to Dunkin' Donuts on the way to her school and we actually took the time to eat inside which we've never done. She was so excited!





After she went to school, I ran a bunch of errands and went to the doctor before picking her up. The doctor said there hadn't been a change since the previous week's checkup, but I still thought Joshua would arrive over the weekend, just like Jenna had. At my last appointment for Jenna, nothing had changed but did quickly during the weekend.


On Saturday, we relaxed at the house in the morning, Jenna took her afternoon nap, then we went out for pizza, Menchie's Frozen Yogurt, and several shopping errands--including a stop at Best Buy for Jenna to play drums. Still no sign of Joshua.

On Sunday, we went to church and we came home so Randy could grill out. Another craving needed satisfying before Joshua was born--this time it was hamburgers and french fries. Jenna and I took a nice long nap, but still no sign of Joshua.

Monday and Tuesday were my first official days off of work. It felt strange--kind of like playing hookie from school. Jenna went to school on Monday, and Randy and I ran errands after he finished his classes. It was flurrying while we were out, which was a bit strange for March in Tennessee. Hopefully, we've seen the last of that for a while! We ate out at another spot I'd been wanting to go--Lenny's! Yum, yum, it never disappoints!

So now, I'm just 2 hours from my due date. Maybe he'll be in the 3-5% of children actually born on his due date. Otherwise, he'll be born on Thursday when I'm induced. Either way, we should have a new son in 48 hours!

Jenna's Second Dentist Visit

Last week, Jenna had her 2nd visit to the dentist--I can't believe it's already been 6 months since her first one. In a way, it's flown, but then it feels like I've been pregnant forever too! Anyway, they said the 2nd visit goes much smoother than the first, and I was glad they were right.

Here she is sporting the sunglasses they gave her to wear. They were tinted red and had strawberries on them, so Jenna thought they were really cool!

Here she is sitting in the chair all by herself! My lap isn't exactly conducive to holding a wiggly child, so we had no choice but for her to sit on her own. She's feeling like a really big girl in this picture.
Uh-oh! It's time to lay back and have the teeth polished. She's not feeling so comfortable any more. Can you see the look of fear in her eyes? She wasn't very happy while they were cleaning her teeth--she didn't like the loud noise or the vibration at all--but it was over in a matter of minutes and she fared well.

After she finished with the hygienist, and while we were waiting to see the dentist, she was able to sort through the treasure chest to pick out a toy.

The dentist gave her a good report--no cavities and keep up the good work. Her big reward was going to the "Cow Place" (a.k.a. Chick-Fil-A) to get some chick-n-minis and a tea in a "little baby cup" as she called it. She was acting like quite the big girl while she was there, and the manager was very impressed with her. She said please and thank you, she asked him for a straw, she asked for her own refills, etc. She's going to be such a big helper to me when Joshua arrives!

Emilie's Day

Last Thursday, I decided to take the day off from work and enjoy a day to myself as I entered the last month of pregnancy. I started the day off with a pregnancy massage at a local spa. I was expecting a table with a hole in it, but instead she just had me lay on my side which worked out just fine. I felt incredibly relaxed when I left there and was so glad to have had the chance to enjoy such pampering!





Since I was right next door to Krispy Kreme, I decided to indulge in a blueberry cake donut. It was quite yummy, and I'm sure Joshua enjoyed the sugar rush too!

I then headed to my real destination for the day--a day of scrapbooking at Scrappin' in the City. It's a wonderful store in a 100+ year old house downtown. They have cropping days every other Thursday, so I may just have to take advantage of the opportunity again.

Only 2 of us were there, and we had full use of their products, one of which being the cricut machine. I'd heard about this off and on for the past few years, but had never tried it until last week. It's wonderful! It would make scrapbooking, card-making, etc. so much easier in that it cuts designs and letters out of paper, according to what you select on a cartridge. It's just too cool for words, so I may be on the lookout for one of them in the future! You can read more about it here.

Here's a picture of the wonderful little contraption:
Here's a few pictures of some pages I was able to finish; the rest are still works in progress:




After scrapping for 4 hours or so, I left to go do a little shopping and errands. The perfect cap to the day was being able to park in the Expectant Mother's spot at Target. It seems like they're always full, and there was one reserved just for me that day!
Now we're just playing the waiting game--Joshua is due 3 weeks from yesterday, so hopefully he'll have arrived by then. I'm still finalizing everything at work and at home in preparation, so if he waits until closer to the due date, that's fine by me. We'll be sure to let everyone know when the big day happens!

New picture of Joshua

Since Joshua's been breech for so long, it's been difficult for the ultrasound techs to get any pictures of his face. Since he's now turned head down (thankfully), we've finally been able to get a sneak peak of what he'll look like. Within 4 weeks, we should be able to see him in-person!

My Little Helper

A few weeks ago, Jenna helped me sort through her infant clothes to find some items that we could use for Joshua. She separated the pink or purple clothes from the rest of them, then I went through what was left. She was quite a big help!


Several times over the past few weeks, she's also reorganized my lazy susan. She's done a good job; I just don't always know where she's put everything these days. I'm sure it's organized in her mind though!

Valentine's Day Weekend

We had a great Valentine's Day weekend. Jenna started out with a party at school on Friday from which she came home with lots of Valentines from her friends and lots of candy too. She also brought us this card that she made. Isn't it adorable?

Saturday morning, I made heart-shaped pancakes! : )

Sunday after church we decided to try Mr. Gatti's pizza as a special treat for Jenna. She's not a huge fan of eating pieces of pizza, but she enjoys eating the toppings off of it and she loves spaghetti. We'd never been there before--believe it or not--and were very impressed with the service and how yummy the pizza was. Jenna really enjoyed herself too:

After pizza, we went to Target, one of Jenna's 4 favorite stores (along with Kroger, Best Buy, and Guitar Center). She got a new set of blocks (I'll post more about that later), so she definitely enjoyed her special Valentine's Day. To top it off, we took Randy to a wonderful frozen yogurt place that Jenna and I recently discovered. If you have one in your area, I highly recommend it. It's so yummy!

It snowed off and on throughout the weekend, which made it very pretty when we were out and about. The highlight of my Valentine's Day weekend was this beautiful bouquet of flowers Randy gave me. Isn't it gorgeous? It smells wonderful too.

I hope you enjoyed a great weekend with friends and/or family too!

A Snowy Winter!

This has been the snowiest winter we've had in quite a while in Knoxville. The biggest accumulation so far was about 3"-4", which is more than we've had in several years. Here are some pictures of Jenna enjoying the snow day.





I've gotten some really pretty pictures in our neighborhood with a white blanket of snow.



Jenna even helped Daddy shovel snow and ice in the driveway and the street. She loved helping and enjoyed the reward of hot chocolate at the end!

The One-Shoed Girl

Jenna's been walking around with one shoe tonight. When I asked her why, she replied, "So I can dance easier!" She knows what's important in life!

A New Umbrella

For the past few weeks, Jenna's been asking for an umbrella. So while we were at the mall the other day, I splurged and bought her this adorable Stephen Joseph umbrella:

She was so excited and proud of it. She said on the way home that she was going to walk in the house with it, open it for her daddy, and say "Ta Da!" That's her new phrase. I had already thought of adding to her collection with the matching rain boots and rain coat over time.


Here she is modeling her new "bumbershoot," as her Yaya (grandmother) used to call it. Too bad within an hour, she'd broken it and the fun abruptly ended. Maybe she was a little bit too young for it, or maybe I shouldn't have let her walk around with it inside the house. Either way, we'll be waiting a bit longer before buying a replacement for her. It was fun while it lasted though!

Jenna's Second Haircut

This time, Jenna's haircut was a breeze! She did so much better than the first time!

Funny Girl

Jenna cracked me up last week with the things she said. Here's a few examples:

She was playing in my closet with the door closed, so I asked her what she was doing. She replied, "I'm just hangin' out; I'll be out in a second!" Alrighty, then!

We went through Jenna's baby's clothes last weekend to see if any were gender-neutral that Joshua could wear. After we washed them, we were putting them away in his room. She came over to my belly and said "We're getting ready for you!" So sweet!

When I was looking at a magazine, I showed her something to see what she thought. She said, "That's so adorable!" I wonder where she got that from!

Driving home from school on Monday or Tuesday, she asked "What did you do at work today, Mommy?" I was very impressed with this question; I'm sure she was unimpressed with my answer. My job probably sounds pretty boring to a 3-year old!

Another modeling shot!

Mimi & Poppa Visit

Mimi and Poppa came to our house last weekend, and we had a great time. Daddy, Poppa and Jenna broke open some new toys she'd gotten for Christmas but hadn't had a chance to play with yet. She loved the new building blocks--well, I think they all did! Here are some of their creations.



Saturday evening, Randy and I took advantage of the grandparents being here and spent the evening out celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary which we'd had the week before. We enjoyed a yummy meal at Lakeside Tavern, a delicious local restaurant, and topped it off with ice cream afterward. We enjoyed the adult time and a meal without interruptions. Movie times didn't work out, so maybe next time!

Here's a rare picture of the two of us before we left for our date.
As usual, I have red eyes!

We were given a great seat at the restaurant--
right in front of the fireplace.
It was very romantic and cozy.

Here's a picture of us on our wedding day, over 10 years ago now!
Time has flown by!

Thanks, Mom & Dad, for watching Jenna. She had a great time playing and watching Horton Hears a Who, now one of her favorite movies!