Cravings and a Heartbeat!

When I was pregnant with Jackie...I really had no huge cravings. I had more food aversions than anything. This one is a little different. The latest and greatest craving is cottage cheese....ya, weird! I just can't get enough of it these days. I think this stems from my college years when my roommate would eat Doritos and cottage cheese together...that's right, you know who you are! She actually started something in our house of 4 girls and 2 guys...I think by the end of that year, we all actually had ourselves convinced this was a yummy treat! Don't get me wrong...I really do like cottage cheese. I just never buy it for some reason. Well, until lately. Instead of Doritos though, I have chosen to eat it with wheat crackers.

On another note, I had a Dr. appointment yesterday and we finally got to hear a heartbeat! The doctor found it right away and it's beating around 150bpm. Jackie's was always in the high 160's. I'm still convinced this one might be a boy...not because of the heartbeat, but because I've just not felt as great and I have some insomnia issues going on! Of course, I was convinced Jackie was a boy the whole time too...so my prenatal intuition is a little off! Either way...we won't be finding out until late July/early August!

What Kids Say...

A little background info to set up the scenario: Saturday was a pretty busy day! John worked, while Jackie and I headed out to a birthday party. Because of the timing of everything, Jackie didn't get a nap before the party. She also woke up on Saturday with a cough and runny nose, but no fever...so we decided to go for it. She had a blast at the party, and played about as hard as I've seen her play. We got home about 3pm and at that time I decided she probably should take some sort of a nap. She crashed, and while she was sleeping we decided it would be a good idea to go to 5pm Mass Saturday night. So we woke Jackie up about 430pm, and she was a mess. She in no way wanted to be awake and no way wanted to go to church. But, like any parent, we decided against our better judgement and went to church anyway.

That brings us to Mass itself. It was pretty much a disaster from the get go. Jackie was coughing all over everyone and crying because her nose was running. She coughed her pacifier out twice and once in landed about three pews up. We took turns taking her out to the lobby so the people around us wouldn't be too distracted. Many times we looked at each other and said, " What are we doing here?" At one point, while we were all three actually sitting in the pew, I got an idea and gave her a pen and paper to draw on. We were just getting ready to say the Creed and there was a bit of silence, at which Jackie declares out loud, "Mommy, Daddy make a baby!" Now, to anyone but us ...it sounds like we've had a sit-down with our two-year old about the birds and the bees. She actually just wanted one of us to draw a baby for her with the pen and paper I gave her! I started laughing so hard, that I was crying...while trying to spit out half the words to the Creed. John was laughing, and shaking his head the whole time. I don't know if anyone else really heard or understood, but it didn't matter. It was just what we needed! I will admit, we cut out right after receiving communion that night...we didn't feel it necessary to subject us or anyone else to our debacles!

January Happenings

*Jackie and I have started another round of Tumbling class and still she loves it. She has become quite a bit more comfortable in her surroundings, which I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. She loves to run around a little more and not follow directions. Something we will have to work on.

*John has been busy working, as it is his "busy" time of year. It hasn't been too bad though and hard work does pay off, as he did get a well-deserved promotion! I'll let him explain more details if you are interested. It has to do with accounting stuff and I'm not going to pretend I know what I'm talking about :) Good job dear...for all your hard work!

*John has also starting training for a half-marathon as of lately. I must say, I'm a little jealous. I would love to be doing this...but since this just isn't in the cards for me this year, I'm dubbed.."Coach Kennedy!" He's doing great on his runs so far..that's right, I'm keeping track.

*There's something with the month of January that I'm beginning not to like. Oh, could it be because the last two years in a row I've come down with an awful stomach virus? You know the one that has you puking your guts out and feeling like you got hit by a bus for 24 hrs? Guess that's probably why! I just got over it here and so far, Jackie and John have been in the clear...*as my fingers remain crossed*

*So far, the pregnancy has been pretty good. I have quite a bit more energy lately and haven't been near as nauseous(minus the stomach virus fiasco). I go to the doctor next week and I'll be 13 1/2 weeks. We are hoping to hear the heartbeat at that time, since my last appointment was just a little too early for that.

*A few pictures of Jackie below doing some water painting. I remember doing these when I was younger. They seemed much "cooler" back then, but it did keep her occupied for 20-30 min!

Very serious about her painting

Pure concentration

Happy Monday!

Learning Patience

Jackie loves to stack things and this made me think "How creative to put Mary, on top of a fake donut, on top of a Mickey Mouse plate....why not?" Our days have been full of randomness like this since we've been pretty much trapped inside this week. Just like everyone else, we are sick of the cold and snow...but I'm not going to dwell on that. I'm just going to be thankful that I have a warm house to be trapped inside at. A house where Jackie can stack random things and I can post random blogs :) I'm realizing this week, that at some point I got out of practice at having patience. So today, since Jackie came down with a nasty cold and we are once again trapped inside....I'm learning patience.

A Few More Pics

Here are a few more pictures from the Mehmen Christmas....

Olivia and Jackie found a perfect spot to stand and easy access to the snacks!

Giving hugs to Austin


Big smiles from Emma and Jackie

It's awesome having big cousins to play with

All the grandchildren!

Daddy even got a birthday cake...since we celebrated Christmas on his birthday this year.

Jackie Breaks the Big News

That's right....Jackie is going to be a BIG SISTER! We couldn't be more excited! The due date is Aug. 1st and so far, so good with the pregnancy. Jackie wore this t-shirt when we got together for the Mehmen Christmas. It was great seeing every one's expression when they saw her in it! She is actually pretty in-tune with what's going on so far. She knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy and she says she wants a brother..we'll see if that changes in the next 6 1/2 months!

Mehmen Christmas

We celebrated the Mehmen Christmas on Dec. 27th on the farm! We had a fun-filled drive up and back with the weather...but we made it and let's just say, "Thank God for portable DVD players!" We barley knew Jackie was in the car for the entire 6 or so hours. It was great to see my family and so much fun seeing Jackie with all of her cousins. A few pictures of the weekend...more to come later!

My Fam...Bryan, Paula, Dad, Brent

Jana, Me, and Mom

We even got a chance to see Bryan's horses while we were there. The experience was similar to that of Santa Claus with Jackie. She was all about it, until we actually got close and she saw how big they were.

She was ok with Daddy petting the horses