Welcome Baby Harlan!

Precious baby Harlan Ella was born at 8:19 a.m. on Monday 12/27; her due date! She weighed 8 pounds, 9 ounces and was 22" long. She is more perfect than we could have imagined and we all love her so much.

Christmas 2010

Baby Shower

My good friend and neighbor, Lisa, threw an amazing baby shower for me on Saturday. Several of my friends from church and A-B were there. Lisa served up preggatini's in our own personalized martini glass, which she embellished herself. I got lots of cute girlie clothes too. What a fun day and the fact that my Mom was able to be there made it all that much more special! I guess to top all of her creative ideas I had better return the favor and start my planning for Lisa's shower now as she's due in July.

Thanksgiving, etc.

We've had a busy last week or so celebrating Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas. Since I will be considered full term at the end of this week I wanted all of the decorations up early. We are all ready for Christmas and hopefully little girl will be able to celebrate with us instead of coming closer to New Years. (It would be good though if she waited at least another 3 days until I have more help arrive.) ;-)

34 Weeks

Here I am at 34 weeks with both kiddos. The swelling with Oliver is much more apparent; hopefully I won't have that issue with this one. The end of my pregnancy is quickly approaching!

Fall

Hello all! Here are some more pictures taken recently. The first batch is from when we went to the pumpkin patch with MOPS and the rest are when Lisa and I took the kiddos to a children's museum down in Berkley, CA. They had lots of fun painting on walls, splashing in water, driving trains, and pressing all the buttons in the space shuttle. It's fun that Oliver is getting to the age where he likes to do things like this and can wonder around with out mommy having to hold him. He's growing and changing so fast! His new thing is dipping his food in sauces...today he ate almost an entire apple (his new favorite fruit) and had to dip it in peanut butter because that's what mommy does. He even verbally said "thank you" after I handed him the apple. Also, I was writing something on a piece of paper and I said "let's see here" and he had to sit in my lap and lean over the paper, like I had been, saying "let's see" over and over again. It was such a little thing, but was so darn cute! Can't wait to see how he is with his new little sister; I think he'll be a loving and helpful big brother.

Happy Halloween!

What a great Halloween we had this year! Jeff had to work all weekend so Oliver and I attended a dress-up birthday party on Saturday. Sunday we went to church and that evening went back for Trunk-or-Treat. We decorated our car and I entered my Chicken Barley Chili recipe in the chili cook-off. With a whopping 12 entries, however, I didn't win. :( Luckily Daddy was able to meet us there and had a blast taking Oliver around to play the games, eat popcorn, etc. What a fun night we had and Oliver was a trooper for every bit of it! I can only imagine what next year will be like toting around a 2 year old and 10 month old. ;-D

Johnny's 2nd Birthday and the Pumpkin Patch

We've had a lot going on lately in the Ward home. Oliver's friend Johhny turned 2 last week and we attended his party on Saturday. Grandaddy and MamaLu also visted for my birthday and we had a blast with them as well. Today I took Oliver to the Impossible Acres pumpkin patch with my MOPS group at church and the kids had a blast. There was a petting zoo there and Ollie loved looking at and getting to hold the animals. Hopefully I'll get copies of photos from the others and were there so I can post them as well. Halloween is this weekend and we are looking forward to attending another birthday party and the trunk-or-treat fall festival at church. Daddy will be working all weekend, but can hopefully make an appearance for some of the fun. I love fall!

Baby Bump Comparisions

Here are some pictures comparing my baby bump from both pregnancies. I've gained less weight with baby #2 so hopefully it will stay that way and I won't have any swelling. ;-) On Monday I had another ultrasound and according to the doctors notes I am measuring 10 days ahead, which would move my due date to 12/17/2010 instead of the original date of the 27th. My doctor should confirm all of this at my appointment next week, but looking forward to having our little girl here before Christmas. By the way, we are officially having a girl! Woo-hoo!

Odds-n-Ends

Yesterday marked 30 weeks pregnant! Only 10 or so more to go. That's is exciting and scary for me all at the same time. I am looking forward to meeting our new little family member, but overwhelmed at the thought of having 2 kids!

Lately we haven't been up to much. We went to a kids fest a few weeks ago and Oliver got to see the inside of a firetruck. He didn't really care for sitting in the drivers seat, but I got his and Daddy's picture in front of it.

Jeff and I were asked to stand in as godparents for friends of ours. Oliver's little friend Dylan got baptized on 10/10/10. This was the first time Oliver had to sit through an entire church service, and it was a traditional Catholic one at that, but he did pretty well. I brought lots of snacks and his blankie so I think that did it.

Yesterday was Johnny's 2nd birthday so we celebrated with him at Kids Gone Wild, which is an indoor bounce house and play area. At first Oliver was really skeptical, I think he thought we were going to leave him there. :( After a while he warmed up to the place and even went down the gigantic slide with Daddy. Looking forward to taking the kids there this winter when it's rainy and cold out. Johnny's birthday party is this weekend and they are getting a bounce house in the backyard; hopefully Oliver will enjoy it and not be too scared with all of the other kids there. Looking forward to a fun weekend. My parents are visiting for my 28th birthday so I know it will be refreshing to have them here and someone to help entertain Oliver is always a plus. More to come soon...

Stuff

28 Weeks

So I have hit the 7 month mark in my pregnancy and this is what I look like. Everyone tells me I just look like I've eaten a big hamburger is all, but I think I feel and look much bigger! Anyway...I haven't had any swelling yet to speak of so hopefully it will remain that way since that was the worst part with my 1st pregnancy. As fall is approaching and the Holidays are coming are just around the corner I realize that time is going to fly between now and when our little girl arrives. I've heard of so many people lately that have had to go on bed rest for one reason or another; so my plan is to get stuff done earlier around the house before I get too much bigger. We are in the process of moving Oliver over to his big boy room so I can make the nursery ready for an infant again. Jeff has put the new crib together, hung another shelf in the closet and is trying to get a ceiling fan installed, although, I think we will just have to buy a freestanding one because our home builder took the cheap route when constructing it. Everything has been going really smooth or me except for bouts of fatigue, but that's nothing new. Trying to keep up with a (16 month old today) toddler is exhausting for anyone I am sure. He really doesn't care to be in a stroller and he won't let me hold his hand when walking in public. This has become an issue and I might have to break out the monkey backpack leash (thanks to cousin Rach) that I swore I would never use. :- / Even though he has this new found Independence that has progressed with learning to walk, he's become a mama's boy and it's quite hard to leave him. Even when Daddy holds him he'll still want Mommy and has FINALLY started saying "Mama". The doctor says it will probably only get worse when sister comes along, but it's partly due to his age and a phase that all kids go through she says. So, things are going well and today is the first day we've had fall like weather, which is exciting. It's only 72 today and feels great! I am looking forward to a fun October filled with birthday parties and Halloween fun. Oliver will dress as a Monkey and Daddy will hopefully be the man in the yellow hat from Curious George. Pictures to come on that! HA!

Little of this and that

Double click on the picture to see the comment.

Oliver and Mickey Mouse

Ollie has a new love--Mickey Mouse! Probably due to the fact that we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse quite frequently. I bought Mickey for him at the Disney store on Sunday and he gives lots of hugs to Mickey and carries him all over the house by his nose. So adorable! My heart melted today as I went into what will soon be Oliver's big boy room to find that he put Mickey perfectly in the baby swing and was proceeding to rock him. He practices rocking quite often for when baby sister comes along, but this was a first of actually putting a stuffed animal in and rocking it. Check out the pictures and videos...oh yeah; he's obsessed with the vacuum too. Every time he sees it he begs for me to use it. If that won't get me to do the house work I don't know what will!

Napa, etc.

On Saturday we went to Napa with our neighbors and had a great day although I was hotter then I've been all summer; no breeze! I also made my first little girl purchase today--now she can wear her outfit when Ollie wears his big brother shirt. I am still hanging onto the receipt though in case she's a he! I am 25 weeks today--wow this pregnancy is flying by! Our Christmas bundle will be here before we know it!

Baby Announcements

I just completed this order of 35 baby announcements along with a coordinating card and am headed to the post office! It was kinda fun crafty these up thinking about making my own little girl baby announcements in a few months. We went to the doctor on Tuesday and it looks like we will be having a girl! ;-)

Lake Tahoe/New Park

We spent 3 days at Lake Tahoe and had a blast. Oliver loved the sandy beach. Also, the park in our neighborhood FINALLY opened today after patiently waiting a long time. It was 105 degrees today so the boys had a blast playing in the water fountain.

Pool and more

Oliver had a great trip to the pool with his buddy Johnny on Monday. Check out the photos.

14 months old!

Budweiser Clydesdales

Pool time with Daddy

Ollie's first boo-boo!

Today after we got home from church Ollie had a collision with a new toy he got in the mail yesterday. Not sure exactly what happened, but a bloody fat lip was the end result. He was a trooper even though it was bleeding a lot. Once it stopped and we fed him lunch he was fine. :)

California State Fair

Notecards

Here are 3 sets of notecards I cranked out this week. If you need a personalized set of notecards let me know I'd be happy to help!

 

 

 

VBS 2010

Pictures of our church decorated for VBS (theme was High Seas Adventure).

Ollie Gets a Cozy Car!

Grandaddy and MamaLu sent Ollie a late 1st birthday gift and after the tedious hours of assembly we finally got it put together and he loves it!

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Our First Garage Sale!

We've had a busy, but fun past week...VBS was Monday-Friday and I had to dress like a pirate each night as I led the crafts for the kiddos. Jeff helped with water games outside on the nights he could, but Oliver caught a nasty cold so Daddy was home with him most of the week. Saturday all day we had our very first garage sale! It was lots of fun, but I think we only got rid of about half. The rest went to a local thrift shop. It feels good to clean out the closets, have a bit more space in the garage and just live a little lighter. Ahhh. Today we spent time together as a family and hung out at the house. Oliver had a great time playing with Daddy outside in his sand box and then his kiddie pool. This favorite part though was crawling all over the concrete (ouch!) and pushing his stroller. Our little boy is getting so big he amazes me everyday. He copies or makes the sound of most words I say. Even if I think he isn't listening he'll pick a word out of my sentence to say after me. I think he likes saying "dow" the most, which means down and "hoth", which is hot. He is quite the charmer and loves flirting with any girl he sees rather she be 5 or 85 by showing a sweet little grin with his head tilted to the side or blowing kisses. He can now give high 5's although I've noticed he'll only do it to Jeff or I, not strangers. As for our other wee-one...I'll be 18 weeks tomorrow, which means only 2 more weeks to find out the sex. It seems like everyone we know are having boys this year so I am a bit anxious to learn what this one will be. All this week and some prior times I have felt the baby moving about. With Oliver I didn't feel him moving until well after we knew he was a boy. So exciting! Looks like I won't be wearing my regular clothes much longer. I dragged out the box of maternity things today. Not quite ready for maternity pants because I have so many cute summer skirts and things I still wanted to wear, but oh well...this way I will be much more comfortable. That's about all I've got for now. Check out the pictures and from the Ward's..."GOODNIGHT"!

17 weeks along.

Not much to report this time, but thought I would show you the fruits of our garden as well as give an update of my pregnancy. Oliver's new favorite fruit is strawberries; he eats them everyday, sometimes with every meal. It's nice that when we run out all I have to do is go outside and pick some more! Looks like we will have fresh strawberries all summer and there are still more that have yet to sprout. As for the pregnancy I have felt awesome! Except for the usual fatigue and the growing waistline, I wouldn't even know I was expecting. Oliver has kept me busy so I haven't had much time to think about this new little addition, but we will already find out the sex in just 3 weeks! We are really hoping for a girl this time, but of course will be blessed with who ever God decides will fit best into our family. Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer-it's going by all too quickly in California!

 

 

 

Licking Beaters and Pool Time

Oliver had his first experience at licking beaters this past week. I made an angel food cake and let him dig in since there were no eggs involved. Notice how Daddy is the one with his tongue out? I think he was trying to teach Ollie how to do it. Today Ollie and I went to the Fairfield pool with Lisa and Johnny. It was close to 100 so we thought it would be nice to cool off a bit. We had a great time.

Courtney Ward's wedding/ San Jose

We had a wonderful weekend in San Jose and got the honor of seeing Jeff's cousin Courtney get married at a beautiful winery in Livermore, CA. While in San Jose we mostly took it easy, but did manage to take a trip to the Happy Hollow Zoo/Park. Have fun looking through the pictures of all our adventures!

4th of JULY!

Pebble Beach

We had a fun weekend in Pebble Beach where Jeff got to see some of the U.S. Open and we were able to meet up with his cousins from Idaho who were passing through. They also met up with us at our place the following night and stayed with us. The next day I took them on the Jelly Belly tour. It was so great getting to spend some time with them; Oliver was sad to see them go!

Fun Videos

Here are some fun videos we took while on our trip. You will need to double click on picture and go into our Picasa Web Album to see the video.

Oliver's 1st Birthday/Weston & Caitlin's Wedding!

Wow, have we been busy the last few weeks! My one and only brother get married, AND our little boy turned 1-year all with in a week! We had such a fun time in Springfield hanging out with family and Oliver loved being with his grandparents. He is crawling all over the place now and will surely be walking soon! He goes in for his 1-year well visit on Wednesday so I am anxious to see how much he's grown and developed. Not only did Oliver have a wonderful birthday party at the lake in Missouri, but he also had a safari themed pool party at our house on Saturday with his California friends. Besides getting lots of neat toys, Ollie also found out that he's going to be a big brother this Christmas! There are many things for us to be thankful for; we are so very blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. There are many pictures of our precious moments so grab a drink, sit back and enjoy the slideshow!

1st Mother's Day!

This weekend was filled with fun and family! Saturday we took Oliver to the Dixon May Fair where he had a blast meeting all of the different animals you would find on the farm. He also went last year, but didn't remember it as he was in mommy's belly. ;-) Today we went to church and then out to eat with our friends the Waker's and their little guy, Dylan. It was a first mother's day for us both so we had a lot to celebrate! Hope everyone else had a wonderful day as well!!

Happy Birthday to My Boys!

Today Jeff turns 28 and Oliver turns 11 months! We had a birthday party on our patio yesterday for Jeff and here are some pictures of the festivities. Our friend Jen shares a birthday with Jeff so we celebrated her too!

Oliver's Crawling!

I finally got an action clip of Oliver crawling! I had 2 more good ones, but they wouldn't upload to the web album. I guess you'll just have to see him do it in person!

Oliver's First Hair Cut

Jeff's mom is visiting and we've done lots since she's been here. Oliver got his first hair cut and we had a wonderful few days outside enjoying the warm weather. Enjoy the pictures and videos!

10 Months

Here are some odds-n-ends taken over the past week or so. Ollie loved the beach so much in Florida that I had to get him his first sandbox to "bring the beach to him". We also had a fun day at the park with 5 other little boys and their mommies while Jeff took the Dads on a personalized A-B tour. He had to stay and work the afternoon shift, but Ollie and I went over to the neighbors for dinner on their patio. So ready for summer; it was almost 80 degrees today and felt lovely!

Baby's 1st Easter

Here are a few pictures of Ollie's first Easter. His parents had a 24 hour bug that hit them on Saturday so the poor little guy didn't get to do much. :( He'll have to wait till next year for his first Easter Egg Hunt!

Spring Break 2010

Greetings! The Kissee family gathered for a week in Clearwater, Florida for fun in the sun and a little rest and relaxation. Jeff stayed for a week while Kassi, Oliver, and her parents continued their stay for a few extra days. They then went on to Missouri for an additional week! While in Springfield Oliver got to bond with both sets of Grandparents as well as his Great-Grandparents! Kassi and her Mom helped throw a bridal shower for Weston and his future bride Caitlin. Can't wait to come back for their wedding in May! We've had a blast as you'll see from the many many photos we took. Enjoy!

Oliver hits the 9 month mark!

Ollie had his 9 month birthday last week and wow it's gone by so fast. On Thursday we went to the park with some other friends and rode a little choo-choo train and carousel for the first time! He was scared out of his mind with the up and down motion of the bunny; even though I was right there by his side he clung on as tight as could be. Today he went in for his 9-month check-up and things seem to be going well. He weighs 23.4 pounds now and is 29 inches long. He did have to get one shot and a prick in his toe and hasn't felt the same since. :( He also has a bit of fluid in one of his ears. Not sure what that means, but if it doesn't clear up before our travels this weekend we will probably have our hands full with a fusser. Although he still has only the same two teeth since Christmas Dr. Toy says they are making their decent and it won't be long before the top teeth are here. Still not crawling either, but just these last couple of weeks have shown us that being much more mobile is right around the corner. This Sunday we head to Clearwarter, Florida with my family (Kassi's) and then Oliver and I head to Springfield for an additional week! Can't wait for the fun to begin, but not looking forward to the journey of getting there! Pray for safe travel and health as we venture cross country and then I return by myself with Oliver!

 

 

Spring Break Count Down!

 

Ollie helping his daddy with yard work.

 

Daddy put Ollie in a box; he didn't think it was all that cool.

 

Ollie wearing this monkey pjs with his valentine monkey from the grandparents.

Adventurous Oliver

Oliver decided in the past few days that he would be a dare devil and pull up on the crib. He can only achieve this task if I sit him up rather than lay him down, but nun the less I'm sure it won't be long before we have to lower his mattress! By the look on his face he thinks he's so big.

 

 

 

 

Valentines Weekend

What a wonderful weekend I had with my beautiful boys! Saturday morning Jeff and I were watching the AT&T National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach on television and we thought hey the weather looks nice there and we've been wanting to go to Monterey...let's go! So we put Oliver down for a nap, packed our bags, and booked what I believe was the last remaining hotel in all of Monterey. What a lovely time we had despite Jeff suffering through a terrible cold; not to worry Oliver and I made it out alive and didn't catch it! Valentines Day was spent at Pebble Beach watching golf and dinner that evening was at a sports bar--what more could a guy ask for?! Don't worry ladies, today was my day filled with fun and shopping. Oliver even had his first swim in the pool (outdoors!) and he LOVED it. It was a good tester for our upcoming trip to Florida in a month. We realize we need to jump on the opportunity to take a little trip on these 3-day weekends!

Superbowl

 

New big boy car seat! On our way to a concert at our church~Saturday.

 

Superbowl outfit.

 

So big!

 

Happy little family!

Oliver Videos

Double click on the pictures to see these 3 recent videos of Oliver--very cute!

Ollie lovin' on his froggy.